If you’ve ever tried to ride your bike on a busy Texas highway, then you’ve probably encountered more than a few scary moments. Cars rushing past too close to the bike lane. Being startled by the honk of a car horn. Distracted drivers. Riding over a bridge can present a whole other set of concerns. But now, one of the newest bridges in Texas has been named one of the “scariest bridges” in the state, according to a new poll of over 3,000 cyclists.
The new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge hasn’t even been open for a year yet, but it’s already scaring cyclists who traverse it, despite the inclusion of a more cyclist and pedestrian-friendly path. A new survey of 3,057 cyclists from across the country — conducted by Bisnar Chase, a personal injury law firm headquartered in Newport Beach, California — has ranked the new bridge, which opened to traffic on June 28, 2025, as the scariest in Texas.
“The sheer scale still makes it a pulse-raiser,” Bisnar Chase officials said on Friday, June 5. “For cyclists, that means a long, high, exposed ride beside a major piece of port infrastructure — impressive, but not exactly casual.”
With the highest point of its towers soaring 538 feet in the air, the new Harbor Bridge is the tallest structure in South Texas, according to the bridge’s builders. Cars, pedestrians and cyclists alike cross its span from a height of 205 feet above the waters of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The new Harbor Bridge is also the “longest concrete segmented cable-stayed bridge in North America,” according to a fact sheet on the bridge’s official website. At 1,661 feet over the ship channel alone, the main span of the bridge is longer than five football fields. But from end to end — from downtown to North Beach — the bridge spans a total of 3,295 feet.
While it may seem scary to cross, the 10-foot-wide shared-use path includes safety features, such as a concrete wall and railing that separates pedestrians and cyclists from the bridge’s six vehicular lanes, as well as an inward-curving fence along the outer edge facing the ship channel. The path also offers something worth stopping for: a scenic lookout called a “belvedere” located at the center of the bridge. The bow-shaped observation deck features decorative metal railings reminiscent of ocean waves, a bench for travelers in need of a respite, and two sets of binoculars for the best sightseeing…