Oakland A’s co-owner John Fisher is expected to join officials Thursday for a hush-hush tour of the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal, a cargo-loading area near Jack London Square that Mayor Libby Schaaf tirelessly promotes as “a fantastic site for a ballpark.”

The tour is the latest sign that Fisher — who owns a majority of the A’s, but is almost never heard from in public — is taking on a bigger role in finding a new home for the team, something that until now has been left to longtime frontman and minority partner Lew Wolff.

It’s also an indication that Schaaf’s plan to persuade the A’s to move to the waterfront — freeing up the Oakland Coliseum site for a new football-only stadium for the Raiders — might actually have a pulse.

“It’s no secret I think this would be a great place for (the A’s) to move, and it gives us more options as we continue to talk to the Raiders about the Coliseum site,” Schaaf said Tuesday.

One source following the talks with the A’s, but who was not authorized to speak for the record, said, “If there is a way to make it work, it will get done. ... But (both sides) are realistic.”

There were conflicting reports about whether Wolff would join other team executives on Thursday’s tour, and the A’s declined to comment.

The mayor won’t be on hand. But a full complement of port officials familiar with real estate, environmental and other largely technical issues will be there to answer Fisher’s questions about the Howard Terminal site, located at the foot of Market Street a few blocks north of Jack London Square.

And there could be many questions, because while the site may be the city’s best spot for the A’s outside of the Coliseum itself, it is also riddled with challenges.

For starters, Howard Terminal is a mile from the closest BART station, at 12th Street and Broadway downtown. That’s actually less than the distance from BART’s Embarcadero Station to AT&T Park, but the trek through Oakland’s warehouse district is a lot less attractive — and less safe — than a stroll along San Francisco’s postcard-perfect waterfront.

With ferry and bus service also limited, many fans would drive. Building a large parking garage near the ballpark is an option, but planners would still need to find a way to get pedestrians over the main railroad line that separates Howard Terminal from downtown. We’re told that as many as three pedestrian bridges could be needed, along with an overpass for cars.

Officials have estimated that the city would probably have to come up with at least $90 million for such infrastructure improvements.

The A’s also would have to clear many of the same regulatory hurdles for waterfront development that helped doom the efforts of the Golden State Warriors to build their new arena at San Francisco’s Piers 30-32. Those include sign-offs from the state Lands Commission, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It’s a complex but potentially manageable regulatory process,” said our source.

Schaaf has moved to have Howard Terminal incorporated into the city’s downtown area plan, which will allow the industrial site to be rezoned for a ballpark and make it easier to clear environmental obstacles.

According to City Hall sources, Fisher recently signed up Strada Investment Group’s Jesse Blout and Michael Cohen to help come up with an Oakland ballpark plan. It’s not their first foray into sports politics: The two former development directors in the San Francisco mayor’s office have been helping the Warriors plan their new arena in Mission Bay.

Slow path: Already two years behind schedule, the opening of the Bay Bridge eastern span bike path connector to Yerba Buena Island is being delayed another month, until mid-October — this time because the landing area is still a mess.

As recently as three months ago, Caltrans officials said they expected to finally connect the 2.2-mile path from Oakland by September. On Monday, however, a Bay Bridge oversight panel decided construction crews needed more time to grade, pave and stripe the road where the bike path will touch down.

Crews are also building a parking lot on Yerba Buena for bicyclists who choose to park their cars on the island and pedal east across the span.

The path originally was supposed to be completed in fall 2014, a year after the eastern span opened to cars. But some work couldn’t be started until demolition workers took down the old eastern span, and subsequent questions about the safety rail, the path’s observation platform and even winter rains have been blamed for the sluggish construction of the final leg.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matierandross