Yea, it’s been closed all summer and most of the 2020 riding season but the bike trail bridge into Algonquin is finally open!
Coming up to the new bridge into Algonquin from the south
Those bikers out there that ride the McHenry Co. Prairie Trail (PT) and Fox River Trail (FRT) either north or south of Algonquin know how crappy it has been taking the detours around the bridge northwest of the Fox River Bridge this riding season.
Over the summer there were times when the detour was not all that bad and other times (especially just before it opened) that it was really hard getting through all of the heavy construction going on on the roads below the bridge.
Well I was pleasantly surprised last week when I got to the bridge and the construction signs were gone and the bridge was open. 🙂 The bridge just goes over a local street in Algonquin and used to be the 2nd wooden bridge into Algonquin (as you head north) after the 1st wooden bridge over the Fox River.
The original wooden bridge over the river is still the same bridge but the next bridge is now a concrete bridge with wooden guard rails.
Closer up view of the new bridge with the ramp to the street below
As you can see, I took a couple of photos of the bridge when I first saw it (I was so excited!) but I also even did a Google Photo Sphere photo of the bridge when I was there. So for a multi-dimensional and interactive view of the new bridge see: Photo Sphere of New Bridge into Algonquin (here). Note, on a cell phone you may need the Google Maps app to view this.
Since it was a beautiful fall day when I did my “new bridge ride” I also took a batch of photos of the southern end of the PT and the northern end of the FRT.
I have been wanting some updated photos of these parts of the PT and FRT for a long time now so I also took some new trail photos. The trail photos currently in my bike trail photo pages for these are from 2003! I will post the new trail photos later when I get a chance and also post a blog post here to point to them.
Until then, enjoy the new bridge! 🙂