why can't i bike over the ambassador bridge?

**windsor_shane** · July-14-10, 04:45 PM

how is biking across the bridge any different than using my car.. you are supposed to use the lanes on the road anyways. hmm.. who would stop me? how much trouble would i be in if i arrived at the us customs on my bicycle?

i ask this question because i intend on doing the tour de troit.. i live in windsor, close to the bridge. seems very wasteful for me to strap my bike to the car, drive, park, get bike off... cycle, strap it back to my car, drive, park, remove bike...

**FlyingJ** · July-14-10, 04:53 PM

Technically, nothing's stopping you from strapping pontoons on it & ducking between the freighters, either;
http://www.vintageprojects.com/boats/bicycle-boat.html

**windsor_shane** · July-14-10, 05:00 PM

lol... nice! but seriously? i don't see why i should own a car or have to take a 16 dollar bus ride in order to cross the border. bicycles ARE vehicles, they have a right to the road.. who says i can't bike over the bridge?

**EastsideAl** · July-14-10, 05:19 PM

You used to be able to bike [[and walk) over the bridge. I did it as a kid several times, and so did my mother. They made you walk the bike on the downhill run though so as not to endanger pedestrians. Does anyone know when they shut the sidewalk down there and made it motorized vehicles only?

**jams** · July-14-10, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

You used to be able to bike [[and walk) over the bridge. I did it as a kid several times, and so did my mother. They made you walk the bike on the downhill run though so as not to endanger pedestrians. Does anyone know when they shut the sidewalk down there and made it motorized vehicles only?

I believe it was to prevent suicides.

**Ray1936** · July-14-10, 05:27 PM

Dunno when they shut it down, but no doubt concern over liability matters caused the decision. Shane, if you want to yell at someone over it all, just find some ambulance-chasing attorneys.

**Russix** · July-14-10, 05:45 PM

There are a zillion other overpasses that would have equally the same result jumping from as the Ambassador bridge. Even more ridiculous is being unable to use the Transit Windsor bike racks in the tunnel.

**barnesfoto** · July-14-10, 06:08 PM

I rode across in the late 1980's, even then it was then kind of a closely guarded secret, and the folks who worked for Maroun, Vampire, would warn you that if you did anything other than walking your bike across, you would be "escorted" off of the bridge.

A few years later when I tried again, I was told that this right had been "suspended" due to maintenance work.

Lawyers my ass, if I can ride my bike across the US/Mexico Border, [[it's much faster than driving, and I would never take a car into Mexico due to it being a country running on failed "free market" policies) I should be able to ride my bike across the US/Canada Border, except that there are "special rules" for monopolists and corporations in this country.

**Khartoum** · July-14-10, 06:34 PM

Ahahahaha, you can't do that!

What do you think this is? Buffalo?

C'mon now!

**DetroitPlanner** · July-14-10, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by windsor_shane

lol... nice! but seriously? i don't see why i should own a car or have to take a 16 dollar bus ride in order to cross the border. bicycles ARE vehicles, they have a right to the road.. who says i can't bike over the bridge?

How does Transit Windsor charge you $16??? You have no rights on the Ambassador Bridge it is privately owned. Your agreement to use it automatically waives your rights.

**Ragtoplover59** · July-14-10, 06:43 PM

A friend and I would bike over all the time in the early 70's. Used to drop baseballs onto the freighter decks.

All the while, our parents thought we were staying two swim periods at Patton Park Pool.

**windsor_shane** · July-14-10, 07:00 PM

my apologies, its 16 dollars for 2 people [[me and my girlfriend...)

i did not know you could not take your bike on the tunnel bus!!! so i guess, if you can't ride over the bridge, or bike though the tunnel, or take your bike on the bus, what are the options here? swim with the bike on your back? or will the coast guard have a problem with that?

see.. to me, this is a serious disconnect for windsor / detroit residents. its nearly impossible for residents of either city to casually cross the border. why are these activities permitted at so many other boarder crossings? ie buffalo or niagara falls.. [[the pedestrian toll at niagara falls is 50cents)

**EastsideAl** · July-14-10, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by windsor_shane

i did not know you could not take your bike on the tunnel bus!!! so i guess, if you can't ride over the bridge, or bike though the tunnel, or take your bike on the bus, what are the options here?

The Transit Windsor site says that they can't use the bike racks for the tunnel bus due to "licensing regulations" [[whatever that means. Does anyone know what that means?). If you can disassemble your bike and put it in a bag they apparently might let you on, if it's not too crowded.

**windsor_shane** · July-14-10, 07:50 PM

could you just bring the bike onto the bus? its usually not too busy, unless there is a game or something.

.. i guess my rant is that other crossings allow pedestrian / bike traffic, and the toll is quite low, is there a reason why windsor / detroit residents are not allowed this?

**EastsideAl** · July-14-10, 08:03 PM

Because the crossing where it could happen [[the bridge) is privately owned and operated. As suggested above, their liability concerns have probably put an end to it.

Bicycle access is part of the plan for the new public bridge project, if it ever gets built.

**EastsideAl** · July-14-10, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by windsor_shane

could you just bring the bike onto the bus? its usually not too busy, unless there is a game or something.

From the Transit Windsor website:
"Bikes: Due to licensing regulations, bike racks cannot be deployed during Tunnel Bus services, including transportation to Comerica Park or Ford Field. You may disassemble your bike and board the bus with it in a bike bag. Note: If the bus is full, bringing the bike bag on board is allowed only at the discretion of the driver."

**DetroitPlanner** · July-14-10, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Because the crossing where it could happen [[the bridge) is privately owned and operated. As suggested above, their liability concerns have probably put an end to it.

Bicycle access is part of the plan for the new public bridge project, if it ever gets built.

Tis true, FHWA complete streets verdicts have pushed for multimodal connections wherever they make sense.

http://www.contextsensitivesolutions...plete-streets/

**jams** · July-14-10, 09:14 PM

Damn,this is frustrating. I vaguely remember the news story in the 60's or 70's of a jumper off the Ambassador Bridge, after that incident the bridge was closed to pedestrians and bikes.

As an aside, anyone else remember the pedestrian gate on the Windsor side, just before the auto booths that led to a stairway to ground level?

**East Detroit** · July-14-10, 09:17 PM

If Andy Schleck can hide a battery and motor in his tubes, a bicycling terrorist could load his up with C4.

Better safe than free!

**jams** · July-14-10, 09:21 PM

BTW I agree with the OP, why do we have to ride our bikes to Algonac or Marine City just to cross over by ferry to a country that we share so many commonalities and is so easily reached if you are in a car or truck.

**Crystal** · July-14-10, 09:21 PM

Obliquely related - I believe you're not allowed to ride your bike to the drive though of a fast food restaurant, and I believe the reason has to do with liability.

[[Disclaimer: Not 100% sure about the above and did not do research I can cite, but I did not hear it from a guy I met in a craigslist transaction.)

**jams** · July-14-10, 09:30 PM

Better safe than free!

Prostitutes are safer than...?

**bike4beer** · July-14-10, 09:35 PM

This same problem plagued me last year when trying to plan a bike ride around Lake St. Clair. We used the car ferry in Algonac but ended up having my wife pick us up in Windsor to drive us back over.

I had read that some people have been able to get the guys at the truck ferry to get them across with a bike but I would not rely on that mode of transportation.

I did a bike ride up in the UP a couple of years ago and a bunch of people crossed over into Canada on bicycle riding over the bridge. Not sure if it was pre-arranged agreement or if you can do it year round.

I think the least the bridge company could do is use a pickup truck to drive people over. I believe there is a similar service for the Mackinaw bridge. I would love to ride in Canada more but logistically getting back and forth is just to big a pain

**professorscott** · July-14-10, 10:07 PM

Welcome to St. Clair County, cross-border cyclists: the car ferries at Marine City [[to Sombra) and Algonac [[to Bkejwanong - Walpole Island) allow pedestrians and bicyclists, and run from about 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day of the year [[unless ice jams shut them down). $1 each way.

All the other border crossings have issues that prevent bicyclists. The Ambassador Bridge, for instance, is owned by an asshole. The Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron connects directly to a freeway on the Canadian side with no pre-freeway exit for a bicyclist. And so on.

But St. Clair County welcomes all of you to ride on our roads and trails, eat at our yummy restaurants and cross here... and there are nice trails and on-road routes across the border here, including especially the Trans Canada Trail at Wallaceburg.

If you want info about our upcoming new U. S. Bike Route, post here and your kindly old Prof will direct you to some info about that as well.

Happy riding!

The Prof

DetroitDad · July-14-10, 10:21 PM

If you have enough money on the U.S. side for a passport, and biking trips, than you probably have enough money for a car that can haul a bicycle, which isn't usually viewed as a means of transit around here, but rather as a "toy", like a jet ski, or an ATV. Many Michigan city dwellers I know [[my wife included) don't have bikes, because they say they don't have the space...

...yet they don't even bat an eye at the space their two ton car or truck takes up. I think it's because we don't keep our cars in our apartments or home. Things would be different if you had to sleep next to that Chevy Impala every night.

Although, knowing how much American's love their cars....