crossing the St Lawrence

Planning a cycle trip next week on the New York and Ontario sides of the St Lawrence. I posted on
these groups about a month ago and got a couple of helpfull responses about the New York side. But I
did not ask about crossing the river and I have just found out that bicycles and pedestrians are not
permitted on the Ogdensburg - Prescott bridge. I e-mailed the bridge company and just got a reply.

We plan to cross at the Wolfe Island ferry and come back to the Ontario side at Ogdensburg -
Prescott. Anybody know if there is a ferry or some other way to cross either there or at Brockville?
I am quite sure bikes are allowed on the Ivy Lea bridge, because I have seen a reference to cycling
across it - can anyone confirm that? Surely they have not stopped cyclists from crossing the border
because of the increased security (some of us might look pretty weird to Tom Ridge).

Ken Ken Brown, Toronto Canada Ontario Rail Trails: http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown delete "nospam"
if replying via e-mail

 

In article <[email protected]>, Ken Brown <[email protected]> wrote:

>I am quite sure bikes are allowed on the Ivy Lea bridge, because I have seen a reference to cycling
>across it - can anyone confirm that?

I've ridden across the Thousand Islands International Bridges at Ivy Lea, the Prescott-Ogdensberg
bridge and the Cornwall Bridge while touring. This was pre-9/11 though so things certainly could
have changed.

There was nothing to indicate bikes weren't allowed on the Prescott bridge then and no one on either
side chastised me for crossing it. It is open grating though, very disturbing to look down through
the road and see the river hundreds of feet below. The view from the top of the American span of the
Thousand Islands International Bridges is amazing.

-Cary

 

Ken Brown wrote:
> Planning a cycle trip next week on the New York and Ontario sides of the St Lawrence... clip<
> Surely they have not stopped cyclists from crossing the border because of the increased security
> (some of us might look pretty weird to Tom Ridge).
Apparently, Tom Ridge is a semi-regular cyclist. That's what we need; more lycra in government!

- P.B.

 

I live near the St. Lawrence. You are right, you can bicycle across at the Ivy Lea-Alexandria Bay
bridges, but not at Ogdensburg. Our club has an annual ride from Alex Bay to Cape Vincent, across
the ferry there to Wolfe Island (Senator Schumer had to work on making sure the new security rules
didn't shut it down). Then across Wolfe Island to Kingston on the Wolfe Islander ferry. We stay
overnight in Kingston, and the next day bike to Gananogue, and take the bike/walking trail from
there to Ivy Lea.

There is no ferry after Kingston. An option would be to keep cycling up to Cornwall, another 30 - 40
miles from Prescott, and cross the river there at Massena. I am pretty sure they let you take your
bike across there.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded. In addition to messages to this group, I got a couple of e-mails.

A number of people have ridden over the Ogdensburg bridge and it appears unlikely we will be stopped
if we just ride on through. On the other hand there is no sidewalk, there is a single lane in each
direction, and the bridge deck is steel grating. I found a photo at
http://www.c360view.com/prescott/prescott-br.html and the prospect of sharing that roadway with
transports is scary. We are therefore going to cross at 1000 Islands bridge, where there is a
sidewalk and bikes are permitted. I phoned them and they are cleaning the winter grunge this week so
the sidewalk is closed, but hopefully it will be open by the time we get there. If not, the man said
to go to the toll booth and they will put the bikes in a pickup truck and drive us across. That is
really nice and was not offered by the Ogdensburg bridge authority.

Ken Ken Brown, Toronto Canada Ontario Rail Trails: http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown delete "nospam"
if replying via e-mail

 

>Ken Brown at [email protected] wrote on 5/16/03 11:15 AM: Thanks to everyone who responded. In
>addition to messages to this group, I got a couple of e-mails.
>
> A number of people have ridden over the Ogdensburg bridge and it appears unlikely we will be
> stopped if we just ride on through. On the other hand there is no sidewalk, there is a single lane
> in each direction, and the bridge deck is steel grating. I found a photo at
> http://www.c360view.com/prescott/prescott-br.html and the prospect of sharing that roadway with
> transports is scary. We are therefore going to cross at 1000 Islands bridge, where there is a
> sidewalk and bikes are permitted. I phoned them and they are cleaning the winter grunge this week
> so the sidewalk is closed, but hopefully it will be open by the time we get there. If not, the man
> said to go to the toll booth and they will put the bikes in a pickup truck and drive us across.
> That is really nice and was not offered by the Ogdensburg bridge authority.
>
> Ken Ken Brown, Toronto Canada Ontario Rail Trails: http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown delete
> "nospam" if replying via e-mail

Can you somehow post details about your ride afterwards? I will be travelling in that region twice
this summer by trike and would consider a ride in the same area.