Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Bridge

It is great that this bridge is here! traffic on the bridge is very slow in the afternoon. The traffic light that services it is a bottleneck of the end of I-​8, Seaworld Drive and Ingrahm St. .There is a nice two lane walkway for pededstrians and bikes to get across. It is also the fastest way to get to I-​5 North from OB. All in all It is a great bridge at the right time of day.

The Sunset Cliffs Boulevard bridge over the San Diego River was built in the 1950s in conjunction with the construction of Mission Bay Park. The opening of this bridge occurred around the same time that the old wooden bridge that used to connect Ocean Beach with Mission Beach was demolished. That was once the only lifeline in and out of those beach communities. The AA website says «The old bridge was built in 1914 and demolished in January 1951″-since then no direct replacement link between those two communities was built. Instead, most roads were redirected to pass through the newly created Mission Bay tidelands.
With the dredging and shaping of Mission Bay by engineers in the late 1940s, the bridges and roads leading into and passing through Mission Bay Park were realigned. Sea World Drive and the areas adjacent to Sea World were once the City of San Diego’s dump!
No matter-​once you get to the end of Sea World drive heading west-​you magically enter into the Kingdom of The People’s Republic of Ocean Beach where you must glide majestically over the Sunset Cliffs Bridge (moat) in order to pay homage to those who are otherwise known as enlightened hippies or just plain pot heads.
Seriously-​I have been over this mighty bridge too many times to count.
It is a lifeline that takes pedestrians, runners, bikers, drivers, and all others out to Interstate 5 access or simply over to the beach communities north. I love this bridge because each side has a set-​aside bike lane and pedestrian walkway. Down below, where those home-​challenged individuals congregate, there is much colorful graffiti art (as opposed to nasty gang rants.)
Best of all, riding over the bridge on most days offers the most beautifully fresh sea breezes and a glistening glimpse out to the Pacific Ocean beyond. Many times I will come up on magnificent Osprey birds or even sometimes a Red-​Tailed Hawk roosting on the light poles. I always kindly request that neither bird poops on me as I cast admiring glances up towards their sleek raptor bodies!
According to Red Route website: «The bike path on the Sunset Cliffs Blvd. bridge (Thomas 1268 B4) over the San Diego River is undoubtedly the best shared bridge crossing in San Diego County. The bike path is separated from the traffic lanes by a barrier big enough to stop a tank, it is wide enough for bicycles to pass one another, and there is a separate sidewalk for pedestrians.»
No doubt, this is a wonderful bridge-​even though it is not all fancy like that garish bridge downtown painted in gold. This is a true Ocean Beach bridge-​practical, geared towards the outdoors yet extremely unique in it’s own way. It is an absolutely fitting way to enter into the noted People’s Republic of Ocean Beach.