Bike Path on the Ballard Bridge

It is probably evident by now that I live in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, and spend most of my time here. I recently tried to bike downtown from my house, trusting that the city's bike infrastructure would have a solution for me to cross the Ballard Bridge.  

I first got on the bridge with the car traffic like a good bike commuter, but immediately was scared off by the 3 delivery trucks right behind me and managed to get off my bike and pull it onto the sidewalk.  I walked my bike on the sidewalk while recovering, thinking it was too narrow to ride safely.  After getting passed by a woman on a bicycle (requiring me to flatten myself against the railing) I decided to try riding again. This went well until I missed the turn from the sidewalk back onto the street. A little shaken, I consoled myself with being better informed for next time, but worried about bike access across the bridge.

This picture taken from the bus shows the narrow sidewalk of the Ballard Bridge and the great view of Fishermen's Terminal.

It turns out I'm not the only one concerned (why I love Seattle) and according to the Seattle Bike Blog the Ballard Bridge is "one of the top large project priorities for the bicycle network." Options for widening the sidewalk or building a new bike/ped bridge are being studied. The 2007 Bicycle Master Plan actually through out the idea of building a new bridge to the West of the Ballard Bridge. Read the blog post and bike plan.

This is part of a map from the 2007 Bicycle Master Plan showing the Ballard Bridge. (City of Seattle)

Here are some examples they might work from, just guessing...

Portland's Steel Bridge bike path sets the Gold Standard as always.(Intertwine.org)

Seattle's own West Seattle Bridge lower level isn't too shabby either. (City of Seattle)