On my ride from the Netherlands to Bordeaux, following the EV4 of course I had to cross the Pont de Normandie. Was a bit scared after several reports here and other places. Booking the bus, line 122, is impossible if you don't speak French. So I gave it a try. Well, the scary reports are highly exaggerated. Ok the bike lane is narrow, but most tour cyclists are not novices. Should there be a strong wind, walk up the footpath instead.
See my blog at https://lovemybike55.blogspot.com/2026/06/17062026-day-8-le-havre-villers-sur-mer.html?m=1
by OneCause2949
12 Comments
I think I’ll take the sidewalk either way 😅 I cannot say I’ve ever enjoyed places where the bike lane is separated from a highway by a painted line.
The only thing they need to do is to remove the low concrete barrrier and place a new barrier a metre orso towards the traffic. The french are still rather stupid. And yes its dangerous
People calling it a deathtrap is exaggerated, but calling it safe is a stretch too.
I took the Pont a couple of days ago, I was first not Sure to go for it and maybe just take the ferry 15km up the River. In the end I drove together with two older guys, they used there tent Sticks as distance makers and a reflection vest as the sign on it. It worked proper and we crossed in a really chill way.
Didn’t even know it had a reputation when I crossed it last year
These trucks must move a lot of air when they overtake you. Enough for you to fall ?
Stopping on a highway is certainly a choice dude
That looks sketchier than my usual riding where there’s no “bike lane” at all.
Doesn’t look great, but that’s a lot better than biking from Manhattan through the New Jersey port/industry area (for example). At least there’s a bike lane!
We took the 122 bus without reservation, they had plenty of space (shoulder season late September 2023).
Whatever you do, **do not try the bridge just north of it**, over Grand Canal du Havre like the idiots we were… [Zero shoulder amongst highway traffic](https://maps.app.goo.gl/B3ep43oe3aDXYE7T7).
Pics themselves are scary, lol !
I cross the Seine (here, by car) at least 6-7 times per year. And 2 times per year by bike, and I would never go on this bridge.
With a small detour, you can cross by taking a small ferry at Quilleboeuf, it’s much much prettier, less polluted (oil refineries near the Pont de Normandie :-/) and safer.
Why do the bridge designers of the world so seemingly often forget that someone might want to or need to cross their bridge on foot or on a bike?
I cross some bridges where the distance between the guardrail and the outer rail of the bridge is so narrow that even a person on foot could not pass between them, like 20 or 30 cm.