Bay Bridge bike path in works

The bicycle speed limit is posted on the new path Tuesday September 3, 2013. The Alexander Zuckermann bicycle and pedestrian path on the new eastern span of the Oakland Bay Bridge was opened Tuesday. The bicycle speed limit is posted on the new path Tuesday September 3, 2013. The Alexander Zuckermann bicycle and pedestrian path on the new eastern span of the Oakland Bay Bridge was opened Tuesday. Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close Bay Bridge bike path in works 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

With the east span finally open, planners are already at work on the next mega-Bay Bridge project - a $1 billion-plus makeover of the western span that would include a $500 million hanging bike path.

"I'm sure the bike advocates are going to start agitating for that" soon, Metropolitan Transportation Commission Executive Director Steve Heminger said from the stage at Monday's bridge re-opening ceremony.

They already are.

"It would be spectacular," says Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. "It would complete the entire region with a pedestrian crossing, not just a bike path."

And "while it's a lot of money, it will create a lot of new capacity on the bridge," said Renee Rivera, executive director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

The idea would be to create a hanging lane that would not only accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians, but bridge maintenance vehicles as well.

The project, however, has significant engineering challenges.

For starters, an MTC feasibility study found bike lanes would be needed on both sides to keep the bridge's weight balanced.

Adding the extra lanes, however, would make the span too heavy. To offset that, planners propose to replace the roadway with a lighter material.

Another big challenge: dealing with the steep grades getting on and off the bridge, while still complying with federal disability-access laws.

But the biggest challenge of all could be selling toll-paying commuters on the idea.

Drivers are already paying up to $6 at peak hours to cross the Bay Bridge. Redoing the western side to include the bike path would probably mean "putting something in front of the voters," - like a "temporary" $1 hike in bridge tolls, said MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler.

At least that's how the bicycle wheel is being spun.

Slow burn: Acting Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived a half-hour late for the opening ceremony of the new Bay Bridge span and watched most of it from the sidelines.

After riding across the bridge with a motorcycle escort (and slowing down long enough to videotape the crossing for his kids), Newsom had to take a last-minute tutorial on how to use the welding torch to cut the chain marking the bridge's opening.

"Cal/OSHA certified the hair gel," he said. "They didn't want me to burn myself."

Missing in action: Other than former Mayor Willie Brown and ex-state Sen. Quentin Kopp, few if any of the other major players who presided over the near 24-year planning and building of the new $6.4 billion Bay Bridge were on hand for Monday's big bridge opening.

Not Govs. Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jerry Brown. Not Sens. Dianne Feinstein or Barbara Boxer, or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Not even former state Sen. President Pro Tem Don Perata or Treasurer (and former East Bay state Sen. Bill Lockyer).

State Senate Transportation Committee chair Mark DeSaulnier - who is calling for hearings on the bridge's cost overruns - was invited, but declined to attend.

"I just wasn't up for what looked like two hours self congratulation," DeSaulnier said.

"Also, I got the distinct impression that I wasn't really wanted."

By the numbers: Reps for alternative ride-sharing services such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar have a new poll showing 77 percent of those surveyed in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego believe the companies should be allowed to compete alongside traditional taxis.

The Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates online survey of 573 residents in the three cities found 60 percent found the mobile ride services a good alternative to other modes of transportation, compared with 44 percent who described taxies as a good alternative. The survey, conducted over the Labor Day weekend, has a 4.1 percent margin of error.

Mobile services also scored ahead of taxis for being low cost and good for the environment.

The timing of the poll's release is no accident. Thursday the state Public Utilities Commission will consider new rules allowing ride-sharing companies to be treated just like any other limo service, including when it comes to safety, insurance and other regulations.

Alfred LaGasse, CEO of the national Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association, which opposes the new competition, questioned the accuracy of the poll - but said the real choice for riders is "between unsafe, unlicensed and unscreened transportation providers versus service with licensed drivers who have a proper criminal background check done by the police department and a publicly inspected vehicle."

In which case, he said, "My guess is people will favor safety above all."