Carlos Rios, who supervised officers at the protest, said it's never safe for bikes to be on the bridge. It is very dangerous. Sometimes they change lanes very quickly. The last time riders made the Island Breeze was in 1997, when water taxis were used to cross the ship channel. That year, then-Police Chief Henry Garrett said the bridge could no longer be used for run, walk, wheelchair or bicycle events.
City officials say the ban is simply for safety.
Garrett ordered his department to stop issuing permits for special events that involved the bridge, worried that crossing the bridge in anything other than a motor vehicle would be dangerous. But Ewing said he only wants a permit to cross once a year, with hundreds of other cyclists. All rights reserved.