How to access the Old Severn Bridge crossing / cycle path

[adrian.collins]

Morning all,
I quite fancy cycling over the olderSevern Bridge (from the English side to go to Chepstow / Wye Valley etc)
I can see that there are cycle paths on both the North and South sides of the bridge (The North seems most popular for some reason?)
I have looked on Google Maps / Komoot etc and haven't been able to work out where I can easily park my car, and access the cycle path

(I've looked at nearby Aust, and the motorway services etc mainly)
I see that there is also meant to be an access road to join the path if I went on the South side, but the few articles I can find that mention this say it has been closed for construction work for about a year or two!) - there seems to be very little information about this for some reason?

Anyhoo, the short version is.....
Does anyone have any suggestions for me please? :-)

Many thanks
AC

 

[HobbesOnTour]

For planning the cycling part I'd suggest https://cycle.travel/map
Then, I'd look on Google Maps for car parks.
Locate the car parks on the CT map and see which one looked the best.
I would NOT use Google to plot a bike route.

If you use Osmand it's even more straightforward.

Looking at CT there seems to be a campsite at Old Passage just off the official bike route. They might offer parking or at least have some cycling info.

Good luck

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've crossed the bridge twice on night rides with the Fridays. I didn't plan this route, I just followed the rider ahead of me. Here's what we did. You can see we approached from the SW along Passage Road and went over the roundabout (on cycle paths I think, I don't remember). I think we did that loop around where it says WH Smith to enable a toilet break at a petrol station. We certainly stopped there for a while. Bear in mind we did this in a group of 30 or so at about 2:30 am so traffic conditions were low. We crossed on the N side of the bridge.

We followed the same route in 2017 and 2019. I don't know if things have changed since. I do remember there seemed to be lots of construction work going on all over the place.

If you don't happen to need a wee stop for a large group of people, then going via that loop is probably a bit excessive. If I look at the heat maps on RideWithGPS I can see riders go up Bridge Access Road. The red fuzzy in this map is cyclists' tracks, you can see that some go on the N side and some on the S side of the bridge. However I have no local knowledge at all about closure of access paths, and I don't know how old those tracks are.

I've also crossed it one other time in the dim and distant past, and have no records or useful memory of that apart from the fact that we definitely crossed on the South side of the bridge.

 

[a.twiddler]

I would think that the North side gives you shelter from the prevailing wind as you're a bit exposed to it once out on the bridge, whatever the ease of access issues might be at either end.

 

[Sea of vapours]

The attached gpx track was recorded in late June and the images below is a graphic of it. It shows a viable route from Aust, and if you look at Streetview here you can also see how the services can be accessed from this route via a footbridge.

GPX viewer

 

[Solocle]

I would think that the North side gives you shelter from the prevailing wind as you're a bit exposed to it once out on the bridge, whatever the ease of access issues might be at either end.

The North side is generally viewed as better AIUI, (I read something about the surface). But I've done both.

The south side is accessed through the old toll access road, bit trickier to see from the A403.

The North side is easily accessed from the roundabout, just a sharp left at the services exit.

 

[adrian.collins]

For planning the cycling part I'd suggest https://cycle.travel/map
Then, I'd look on Google Maps for car parks.
Locate the car parks on the CT map and see which one looked the best.
I would NOT use Google to plot a bike route.

If you use Osmand it's even more straightforward.

Looking at CT there seems to be a campsite at Old Passage just off the official bike route. They might offer parking or at least have some cycling info.

Good luck

This is really helpful and much appreciated, thank you!

 

[adrian.collins]

For planning the cycling part I'd suggest https://cycle.travel/map
Then, I'd look on Google Maps for car parks.
Locate the car parks on the CT map and see which one looked the best.
I would NOT use Google to plot a bike route.

If you use Osmand it's even more straightforward.

Looking at CT there seems to be a campsite at Old Passage just off the official bike route. They might offer parking or at least have some cycling info.

Good luck

S

I've crossed the bridge twice on night rides with the Fridays. I didn't plan this route, I just followed the rider ahead of me. Here's what we did. You can see we approached from the SW along Passage Road and went over the roundabout (on cycle paths I think, I don't remember). I think we did that loop around where it says WH Smith to enable a toilet break at a petrol station. We certainly stopped there for a while. Bear in mind we did this in a group of 30 or so at about 2:30 am so traffic conditions were low. We crossed on the N side of the bridge.

We followed the same route in 2017 and 2019. I don't know if things have changed since. I do remember there seemed to be lots of construction work going on all over the place.

View attachment 703405

If you don't happen to need a wee stop for a large group of people, then going via that loop is probably a bit excessive. If I look at the heat maps on RideWithGPS I can see riders go up Bridge Access Road. The red fuzzy in this map is cyclists' tracks, you can see that some go on the N side and some on the S side of the bridge. However I have no local knowledge at all about closure of access paths, and I don't know how old those tracks are.
View attachment 703406
I've also crossed it one other time in the dim and distant past, and have no records or useful memory of that apart from the fact that we definitely crossed on the South side of the bridge.

Superb info, and images - really helpful thank you!!

 

[cougie uk]

I would NOT use Google to plot a bike route.

Good call. Google usually tells me the Motorway is for cycling on.

 

[Solocle]

Good call. Google usually tells me the Motorway is for cycling on.

That has to be driving directions. Cycling directions at least don't do that.

 

[PeteXXX]

This was my route about 4 years ago. The southernmost arrowed road was my road but is, I believe, closed for construction now. (Other folk might give you more updated info)

The upper blue arrow is a cut through that shows as 'open' so you could maybe park in Aust village for the day.

 

[a.twiddler]

I'd only recently realised that there were more options for crossing the bridge as on the few occasions I've cycled it, it's always been on the North side. Is this a recent development? (ie in the last 40 years? it's been a while.) It's debatable which might be better when it is raining. With the prevailing wind usually being up -channel, do you settle for just getting wet on the South side, or getting plastered with the mucky spray being raised by vehicles on the North side? And vice versa if the wind is blowing from the other direction.

When I were a lad, it was either go round Gloucester way, catch a train and go via the Severn tunnel, or hop on the weird and wonderful Beachley/Aust ferry. I wasn't thinking about bicycles on the ferry at the time but it's likely they did take them. That would have been a memorable experience in itself.

The first Severn bridge was a wonder of its time, famously built using epoxy adhesive. We used to joke about the number of tubes of Araldite they must be getting through every time we rocked and rolled across on the ferry, sitting in my dad's Hillman Minx ,the bridge becoming more complete each time we crossed.

 

[richardfm]

I'd only recently realised that there were more options for crossing the bridge as on the few occasions I've cycled it, it's always been on the North side. Is this a recent development? (ie in the last 40 years? it's been a while.) It's debatable which might be better when it is raining. With the prevailing wind usually being up -channel, do you settle for just getting wet on the South side, or getting plastered with the mucky spray being raised by vehicles on the North side? And vice versa if the wind is blowing from the other direction.

When I were a lad, it was either go round Gloucester way, catch a train and go via the Severn tunnel, or hop on the weird and wonderful Beachley/Aust ferry. I wasn't thinking about bicycles on the ferry at the time but it's likely they did take them. That would have been a memorable experience in itself.

The first Severn bridge was a wonder of its time, famously built using epoxy adhesive. We used to joke about the number of tubes of Araldite they must be getting through every time we rocked and rolled across on the ferry, sitting in my dad's Hillman Minx ,the bridge becoming more complete each time we crossed.

Bob Dylan at the ferry terminal on the Aust side

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'd only recently realised that there were more options for crossing the bridge as on the few occasions I've cycled it, it's always been on the North side. Is this a recent development? (ie in the last 40 years? it's been a while.)

First time I cycled across was probably 1984/5 something like that and I'm 99% sure we were on the S side.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Good call. Google usually tells me the Motorway is for cycling on.

In some parts of the world it's a great place to cycle 😀
But I still wouldn't use Google 😀