It has never been a problem when I have gone up there over the years. In fact, the shoulders on the bridge are a lane+ wide on both sides of the bridge. I believe the city knew how much of an attraction the bridge would become before it was built and had it designed accordingly. That said, you really need to be careful if you step out of your car. Thirwell Road is very busy and people tend to drive fast. The best idea is to pull off on one side or the other of the bridge and shoot photos out of passenger side window of your vehicle.
Thanks. I hope to be there in mid June. But if Covid does not allow, we’re going to shot for fall, when the sailing season is over. I thought the bridge looked like it had oversized shoulders. Knowing myself, I’ll wait for a traffic gap, jump out, shoot in front of my car, protected by it (like cops do).
It looks like our trip will be: Fly to Philly; Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh, spend some time there. Fly to Chicago Midway. (AMTK made it too hard to take the Capitol; due at midnight, which sounds like actually 2-3 am.) Rent car, drive SW, spend a night each in Galesburg and a town (on UP) TBD. Back to Midway. Bus to Chicago, play tourist a few days. Cardinal roomette to White Sulfur Springs (NOT $taying at Greenbriar), spend 2 or 4 days in that area. Take Cardinal coach WSS to Wash. Wash to Philly on Corridor train. Fly back to Maine. Sleep for several days …
At a real remote crossing of Minnesota highway one, East of Ely in far northern Minnesota, I crosssed the CP main line, stopped at a little Tavern , got out of the truck, and wow, northbound Container train moving at a very high speed toward Canada. I cannot guess the speed, but it was far over 60 MPH. I wonder about deer, bear and moose on the tracks, do the engineers even feal a bump?
If you want a few places that are an easy drive from Chicago; Streator (former Santa Fe and NYC), Lasalle-Peru (former RI, CB&Q, IC, L&BC), and Mendota (former CB&Q & IC) are easy to get to. Lots of rail history and abandoned routes all around this area. Used to be lots of mining and industry, mostly rail served, now almost none.