The east span is the world's longest self-anchored suspension bridge.The cables are made from 0.195-inch diameter wires, 17,464 wires in each cable, with a total diameter of 28.75 inches. West span: 2,310 feet (9,260 feet total length), 220 feet above the water.From one approach to the other, the San Francisco Bay Bridge is 43,500 feet long (8.5 miles).The two San Francisco Bay Bridge sections combined are 23,000 feet long (4.5 miles).On the San Francisco side of the island, it consists of two complete suspension bridges, back-to-back with an anchorage in the middle.Ī few San Francisco Bay Bridge facts and figures: The San Francisco Bay Bridge structure consists of two separate spans, joined by a tunnel cut through a hill on Yerba Buena Island. To see the new span, turn right on California Ave just past the old guard gate, and go to the east side of Treasure Island, where you can get an excellent view of the new span.īetsy Malloy Photography San Francisco Bay Bridge Facts Take the Treasure Island exit, stop in the waterside parking area and you'll get a great view of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and city skyline. To see the Bay Bridge from Treasure Island, drive east on Interstate Highway-80 toward Oakland.

There is no toll to drive from the San Francisco side to Treasure Island and back. If you are crossing the bridge from Oakland toward San Francisco, you'll have to pay a toll. The view going west is much more beautiful. On the western section of the bridge, the eastbound lanes travel on the lower deck, and you can't see anything. You can see the Bay Bridge from any of the locations listed above for viewing the Bay Lights. San Francisco Bay Bridge from San Francisco Use 9 Hillcrest Rd, San Francisco, CA as the destination, which is the address of Naval Quarters 9 near the vista point. You can also Uber or Lyft to the vista point and ride or bike it one way. Vista Point at Yerba Buena Island has benches where you can catch your breath, pretending it's the view that took it away and not the over-exertion. It starts in Oakland and runs on the south side of the bridge. To enjoy the bridge by bike or walking, take the 4.4-mile bike and walking trail. The lights aren't the only thing you may want to explore about the Bay Bridge. Illuminate the Arts raised $4 million to make it a permanent fixture, and they came back on for good in January 2016. Response to The Bay Lights is so far-reaching and profound that it has lit a path beyond itself.' At the end of those two years, everyone wanted them to come back. Then as Illuminate the Arts says: '.something strange and powerful happened-the world dropped its collective jaw. The original installation was designed to last two years. Known internationally for his light sculptures, Villareal installed 1.8 miles of sparkling, white, energy-efficient lights on the bridge’s vertical cables. It was a monumental project that was eight times the scale of the Eiffel Tower’s 100th Anniversary lighting. From Twin Peaks, you can see the Bay Lights and get a view of the whole city, too.īefore 2014, the San Francisco Bay Bridge always took a back seat to the Golden Gate Bridge across the bay, sitting like a canvas waiting for a painter.įor the Bay Bridge's 75th anniversary, artist Leo Villareal turned the unremarkable old span into world’s largest LED light sculpture.Drive to the high lookout point at Hawk Hill.

From the Marin Headlands, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge at the same time.

See them from above at the Top of the Mark restaurant and bar at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel.

From the west side Treasure Island, you can see the whole span and the San Francisco skyline.

You can look down on the lights from the top of Telegraph Hill at Coit Tower.

The end of Pier 39 is further away, but also lovely.

Along The Embarcadero between the Ferry Building and the bridge, especially from the end of Pier 13.

These are some of the best places to see them: Going to view the lights is one of the best things to do in San Francisco at night. It's a mesmerizing show, to say the least. One minute, they may bring to mind fish swimming, the next they look like falling raindrops. Simple lights alone would have been pretty enough, but this light sculpture is dynamic, computer-controlled to create patterns and variations of patterns, so many of them that you're unlikely ever to see it doing the same thing twice. At twilight, the Bay Lights turn the plain-looking San Francisco Bay Bridge into a shimmering, mesmerizing nighttime light sculpture.

San francisco bay bridge traffic