Old Severn Bridge?

Chris Eilbeck said:

I see from Multimap that there's a cycle/foot path over the old Severn
Bridge. How do you get onto it from the Welsh side? Is it via the
roundabout with the A466 or somehow through Beachley? I'm thinking of
doing a trip down the Wye to Bristol and home again by train.

Cycle path on A466 or from the town take the road through Bulwark which
brings you out at M48 exit 2 - this is where the cycle path joins the
bridge.
Bonne Route
Dan Gregory

Dan Gregory said:

Chris Eilbeck said:

I see from Multimap that there's a cycle/foot path over the old Severn
Bridge. How do you get onto it from the Welsh side? Is it via the
roundabout with the A466 or somehow through Beachley? I'm thinking of
doing a trip down the Wye to Bristol and home again by train.

Cycle path on A466 or from the town take the road through Bulwark
which brings you out at M48 exit 2 - this is where the cycle path
joins the bridge.
Bonne Route

Brilliant. Thanks.

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

The paths on the north side of the bridge and you get on at junction 2
and off at 1 as far as I recall, no probs clearly signed. Very high and
spectacular. There is also a path over the Avon bridge but not the new
Severn bridge

cheers
Jacob

Beachley is a peninsular with no access to the bridge.

If you're coming down the Wye then (depending which side you're on)
you'll already be on the A466 and J2 of the M48, or if you're coming
out of Chepstow then you could go through Bulwark as Dan says, and turn
right at the Homebase roundabout for J2.

btw there are footpaths adjacent to each carriageway on the bridge.

There's a Sustrans route which leads along estuary for a bit before
turning inland and crossing the M5 at Cribbs Causeway.

Quoted message said:

The paths on the north side of the bridge and you get on at junction 2
and off at 1 as far as I recall, no probs clearly signed. Very high and
spectacular.

There's a path on either side. At the Welsh end there's a glass-strewn
tunnel to get from one side to the other.

--
Dave...

On 15 Mar 2006 08:53:21 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The paths on the north side of the bridge and you get on at junction 2
and off at 1 as far as I recall, no probs clearly signed. Very high and
spectacular.

There's a path on either side. At the Welsh end there's a glass-strewn
tunnel to get from one side to the other.

The south/downstream side is intended for walkers and maintenance
only. Fortunately walkers do not puncture.

Ian Blake said:

On 15 Mar 2006 08:53:21 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's a path on either side. At the Welsh end there's a glass-strewn
tunnel to get from one side to the other.

The south/downstream side is intended for walkers and maintenance
only. Fortunately walkers do not puncture.

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong? It's only the access tunnel that's glass-strewn BTW, not the
path on the bridge.

--
Dave...

On 16 Mar 2006 05:56:06 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ian Blake said:

On 15 Mar 2006 08:53:21 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's a path on either side. At the Welsh end there's a glass-strewn
tunnel to get from one side to the other.

The south/downstream side is intended for walkers and maintenance
only. Fortunately walkers do not puncture.

Actually I am wrong, walkers do. If they do not use Clark's Marathons
or some other foot tyre the inner tubes will ooze red slime when
walking on broken glass.

Quoted message said:

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong?

You didn't jump off so that's OK.

I am only basing my assertion from the observation that heading East
from Chepstow we arrive at a sign that instructs walkers down the
slope to the tunnel and cyclists to keep right straight onto the left
side of the Wye bridge.

At the time the second crossing was being planned the local cycling
groups campaigned for a foot/cycle crossing but the company argued
there were no cycles or foot paths near the bridge so the bridge did
not need them. Campaigners pointed out paths to the bridge would be
built. The bridge builders said it would be too expensive and they
would never regain the cost of construction. The Department of
Transport accepted this. The bridge operators have since completely
recovered their building costs and the income from the bridges
continues to dwarf the maintenance expense.

I suppose the calls for a cycle path were hampered by the green lobby
sending mixed messages. The cyclists liked the idea of the South West
being five miles closer. However some blinkered campaigners were
focused on no new roads ever.

On 16/03/2006 13:56, dkahn400 said,

Quoted message said:

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong?

I think you did, and you should have been accosted by someone! Only the
south side is (or was) available for use by the public. Isn't the north
path still blocked by a barrier? I worked on the old bridge for a while
(cured any fear of heights!), and members of the public would not have
been welcome on the north side - you could have gained full access to
the deck and the towers at the time. Cars look tiny when looking down
from the top!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ian Blake said:

On 15 Mar 2006 08:53:21 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The south/downstream side is intended for walkers and maintenance
only. Fortunately walkers do not puncture.

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong? It's only the access tunnel that's glass-strewn BTW, not the
path on the bridge.

I too have ridden across on both sides. On both ocassions I was riding into
Wales from Bristol, the first time I had to cross all of the carriageways by
using a path over the top of the toll booths to get to the downstream side..
The second time was on the upstream side. There was no indication that one
of the paths was reserved for pedeatrians only.

Paul Boyd said:

On 16/03/2006 13:56, dkahn400 said,

Quoted message said:

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong?

I think you did, and you should have been accosted by someone! Only the
south side is (or was) available for use by the public. Isn't the north
path still blocked by a barrier? I worked on the old bridge for a while
(cured any fear of heights!), and members of the public would not have
been welcome on the north side - you could have gained full access to
the deck and the towers at the time. Cars look tiny when looking down
from the top!

I've been across twice on the south side, and once on the north. The
time I rode it on the north side was on the National 400 Audax last
year. I would have preferred to be on the south side but I simply
couldn't find the way on. I saw the access tunnel to the north side and
used that. There were no barriers or no-entry signs that I saw. I
assumed the north side was open and the south side closed.

I actually lost quite a lot of time because I was wrong about that and
it wasn't so easy getting back to the south side of the motorway at the
English end of the bridge, and I had to take a lengthy detour. When I
did get back to the south side I ran into Mel Kirkland who was just
coming off the bridge on that side. He wasn't actually doing the event
but claimed to just be out for a nice ride starting and ending in
London and taking in the Brecons. :-)

--
Dave...

So far as I'm aware there are no restrictions about which side of the
bridge you cross on. It's natural to cross the bridge on the upstream
side if you're coming out of Chepstow, because that's the side of the
bridge you're on. (but as previously mentioned there is a glass strewn
underpass, and possibly also access from the industrial estate to the
south of the M48 roundabout.)

On the Brizzle side it's not too clear where you get on the downstream
side cycle path (it looks like you're cycling into a restricted access
road from memory) but looking at a map it's first right off the
Avonmouth road.

Of course the barriers are there to prevent foolish cyclists trying to
cross when there's a bloody great wind blowing up the Severn. I did
cycle over when there was a car speed limit on place because of the
wind, and it's none too easy to keep upright.

In article <[email hidden]>,

dkahn400 () said:

Well, I've certainly ridden across both sides. Perhaps I did something
wrong? It's only the access tunnel that's glass-strewn BTW, not the
path on the bridge.

I'm trying to make sense of this bit of the route sheet for The Dean,
which /seems/ to indicate using the south side, but I imagine I'll only
find out for sure when I get there...

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
Trees, once grown in large numbers, make perfect forests.

Dave Larrington said:

I'm trying to make sense of this bit of the route sheet for The Dean,
which /seems/ to indicate using the south side, but I imagine I'll only
find out for sure when I get there...

North side, I think.

--
Dave...

On 17/03/2006 11:11, Simon L said,

Quoted message said:

So far as I'm aware there are no restrictions about which side of the
bridge you cross on.

Ah - OK. Maybe the restrictions have been lifted since I was last
across it.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

I live 4 miles from this bridge. I cross using North side (upstream) and did
not realize the other side was a Cycle path!
John.
www.pbase.com/john28july