From K-QED.

Hey everyone, you're listening to the Bay Curious Podcast, where we explored the Bay Area

one question at a time.

I'm Olivia Alan Price. Did you know the Bay Area was once home to the longest bridge in North America, and also one of the

skiniest?

It's the original bridge that ran between San Mateo and Hayward, or Hayward and

San Mateo, depending on which side of the bay you sit on. Kathleen McCusick of Redwood City

used to work in biotech near Bridgeview Park in Foster City,

which is how she came to ask us this question.

I stumbled across a remnant of the 1929 Cemetery Bridge about a dozen years ago.

I would love to know more about that original bridge in its heyday.

We have a lot of spectacular bridges here in the Bay Area, but let's be honest, the San

Mateo Hayward Bridge doesn't get a ton of love. Today we're putting her in the spotlight and learning more about the original bridge that

helped shape our region.

We'll be right back. Support for Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family-owned, operated and argued over.

Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.

Visit Sierra Nevada.com to find your new favorite beer today.

This week we're answering a question from Kathleen that was selected by you, our audience, in a monthly voting round. If you want say in what we cover, in our current poll at bay curious.org

Okay so Kathleen wants to know the story behind what remains of what was then called the San Francisco Bay toll bridge. We sent KQEDs Rachel Myro to check it out.

If you've walked or cycled along the bay trail on the peninsula,

you know it passes under the San Mateo Hayward Bridge.

My daughter and I were here on the weekend to ride bikes on the Bay Trail

...