Le Pont

The bridge. It connects St.-Aignan with Noyers-sur-Cher to the north across the Cher River. The road continues northward through the Forêt de Gros Bois to the town of St.-Romain (another wine town), then up to Contres and on to Blois.

The St.-Aignan side of the bridge over the Cher.

The bridge crosses two branches of the river which are separated by an island. There is an actuated traffic signal on the island and a standard signal on the St.-Aignan side. The bridge is only two lanes wide but it still handles pedestrians, bicycles, cars, campers, and big rigs. It can be a tight squeeze from time to time.

This is the section where the former mill stood.

I always kid Ken that we need to head out early if we want to avoid "bridge traffic." Although I'm only half kidding... During the summer there is a lot of tourist traffic and the town turns the signal to flashing to keep traffic from backing up on the bridge. The downside of that is that cars on the river road have to yield, and the wait can be frustrating. But certainly never as frustrating as waiting at the SF Bay Bridge toll plaza.

A bridge pier on the island.

There has been talk of building a second bridge at St.-Aignan to handle the increasing summer time and truck traffic, but there is a debate about where to build it, and the current economic crisis has slowed things down. I really don't want to see a second bridge built. We don't need to accommodate vehicular traffic to that extent. There's my former career rearing it's ugly head!

Directional signs at the St.-Aignan traffic signal, which is flashing yellow giving the right of way to traffic coming off the bridge.