JeffL

I lived in the Metro East area of Illinois from 2012 to 2018, and often rode into St. Louis from Illinois. In my opinion the best crossing of the Mississippi in the area is over the McKinley Bridge at Venice, IL. There's a wide, separated bike/pedestrian lane which connects to the Riverfront Trail on the Missouri side. Venice is a small town, and a couple miles of low-traffic street riding through there connect you to Madison County trail system, which allows you to escape all the heavy traffic in the Metro East.

I prefer the McKinley Bridge to the Eads Bridge for a couple of reasons: The McKinley Bridge's separated bike/pedestrian line is wider (and in my experience, cleaner) than the one on the Eads. And riding through Venice is a lot more pleasant, IMHO, than riding in East St. Louis. The crime situation in East St. Louis is probably exaggerated, but I always felt better riding through Venice.

staehpj1

Yeah, it was probably tougher going eastbound as we were. We also were in the middle of a heat wave. It seemed like every newspaper we saw had a headline about record breaking heat. We sat in the AC and had milkshakes when we got to Chester. BTW, Chester "Home of Popeye" has a ton of Popeye related stuff for those who are interested. Pretty much everything there was Popeye themed.

John N

I prefer ferries whenever I can take them. The new bike bridge from Memphis to West Memphis is really nice. Not a scenic bridge, but nice to bike.

When I rode the Chester bridge, I "think" it had a metal decking but didn't effect me either way. That was in '82 so can't quite remember. I do remember that one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen was a life guard at the pool. I was only 17 but she was a stunner.

Tailwinds, John

staehpj1

I can't say for sure what the surface was when I was there, but do remember it being bad.

tcs

The bridge has even got its own website: Big River Crossing

tcs

That's the Mississippi River crossing of Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica, right?

Didn't the TransAm use the ferry @ Ste. Geneieve back in Bicentennial days? Ah, all so long ago now.



The big new cable stay @ Cape Girardeau is nice. Wide concrete shoulders.

staehpj1

Yes I think so. I am not entirely clear on whether we were following the primary ACA route or an alternate route at that time, but I think it was the regular route.
I don't know about 1976 or today, but I think it is listed was an alternate route on our map in 2007.

jamawani 

For a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s the Ste. Genevieve ferry was not operating.
I suspect that they switched the route then.

Even when the ferry resumed - it was hit-or-miss for a while.
Ferries require subsidies and when the money goes - so does the ferry.
(Of course, bridges cost bazillions - - buy hey.)

JeffL

When we lived in Lebanon, IL, many times I wanted to ride down to Ste. Genevieve and back. Invariably, anytime conditions were otherwise favorable, and I had the time to do it, the ferry was closed. I never did get to ride across on it.