July 14, 2010 
Above is the picture of the scene from July 2009 – exactly ONE year ago to the day that it shouldve opened!
All you can see is the trunk road across the River Ely which doesnt allow any pedestrian or safe cycle access between Cardiff Bay and Penarth. Hence a solution was required to allow the public to enjoy this side of the Cardiff Bay area including areas from the River Ely, Penarth Marina and beyond.
The Pont Y Werin bridge was born and named by locals as The Peoples Bridge. This new bridge which joins up the 10km route around Cardiff bay, was to originally open on June 8th, 2010 – but due to unforeseen supply delays it didn’t make the original deadline.
On the left is a photo of some of the original construction for the base of the bridge structure. Im not entirely sure whether you would call them foundations or not (but they serve the same purpose!)
The Pont Y Werin bridge has now been officially opened today, 14th July, 2010 by Ieuan Wyn Jones, Cllr Delme Bowen, Rodney Burman along with members from Sustrans and the Big Lottery Fund.
Funding from the new bridge came from the Welsh Assembly Government, £1.645m, Cardiff Council, £1.3m, sustainable transport charity Sustrans £1.15m, Cardiff Harbour Authority £250k and £200k from The Vale of Glamorgan Council.
In March, 2010, the largest crane in Europe was brought in especially to erect the large sections of the bridge ensuring they were safely put into position. This took a couple of days where the crane could be seen across the Cardiff skyline.
Below is a photo from June 2010 – which is when the bridge was originally going to be opened for the public. As you can see some more decorative and safety work was still ongoing. Seems like construction workers had a vast array of weather conditions to battle through in the past year!
Now the last link in the round Cardiff Bay route is now complete I thought Id ride it with my GPS-enabled MY TRACKS application recording the data to see how long the actual journey was!
Even thought its advertised as 10km I only managed to do 7.73km and that was with a few minor detours to take photos! So im not sure where the other remaining 2.27km is obtainable from!
It took me 35 minutes in total to complete the circuit but I wasnt going particularly fast with average speed coming in at 12.9km/hr and a maximum of 19.8km/hr.
All im gonna say is that there was a massive headwind whilst going across the barrage- i reckon there were gusts of around 35-40mph to contend with!
Below is a map detailing the exact route I took and clickable as a normal Google Map to zoom in and investigate further.
To view an interactive map of the cycle route click HERE
So above is the scene of the bridge in completion on it’s first day open to the public. Two sculptures were also commissioned to reflect the ‘People’s Bridge’ theme – one at either end of the bridge.
The bridge, when it is open so vessles can pass underneath, can be seen across the whole of Cardiff Bay reaching up and beyond the natural skyline. This was the scene from the tarmac road leading upto the barrage.
To view all the photos from the last year of construction of The Pont Y Wern Bridge you can view the slideshow beneath or click http://www.flickr.com/photos/djleekee/sets/72157623692995178/show/
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DJ Leekee Online 
Hey there! Thanks for posting the map & pics. It’s great to finally get a good Bay circular route. Mine was slightly different. I started at the barrage (being a Penarthian) and then avoided the Bay crowds by sticking to the roads. Once through Hamadryad Park, I headed onto Clarence Bridge and down through Avondale Gardens / Channel View.
One last point the boarded part that leads to the ice rink car park has now been designated with a ‘cyclists dismount’ sign at either end. The bay trail route is now signposted past Morrisons car park and Toys R Us, then turn right at the Pool / Whitewater – how dumb is that??
Anyway, you can check my route at http://rnkpr.com/a7ptw2
Ride safe!
Ah nice one Steve!
I have previously cycled the route you mentioned but didnt actually realise it was part of the official 10km Cardiff Bay trail. The route you have linked to is near damn it 10km!
Its strange that there is a ‘cyclist dismount’ sign on that small boardwalk near Morrisons – I dont think many people take notice of it as there never seems to be any pedestrians in that area anyway!
Even though I know (most of) the Cardiff Bay trail/Taff Trail I still do find the signage quite confusing and wondered if there was any other way of improving it?
I do like the Run Keeper App you are using – is it apple or android based? (and free?)
Just added you on Twitter and Flickr! Some amazing shots you got there! You will have to tell me what new equipment I need to buy to get shots 10% as good as yours!
Its about time I upgraded to DSLR from my basic point n shoot!
Catch you soon and thanks for reading!
Lee