Construction on a barrier designed to prevent people from jumping from the San Diego-Coronado Bridge is expected to begin this year, with completion projected in 2028.<\/p>\n
More than 400 people have jumped from the bridge since it was completed in 1969, and it is often cited as the second-most utilized of the nation\u2019s \u201csuicide bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project has been years in the making, and in effort to expedite it, will be the first design-build project that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has ever undertaken.<\/p>\n
The deterrent will be a vertical net that will stretch along the expanse of the bridge. It will be between 7.5 and 8.5 feet higher than the current railing.<\/p>\n
By constructing the deterrent as it is built, Caltrans shaved a year from the $140 million project\u2019s timeline.<\/p>\n
A Harvard University\u00a0study<\/a> found that 9 out of 10 survivors of suicide attempts do not ultimately die by suicide. Making suicide from atop the 200-foot Coronado Bridge so easy, advocates argue<\/a>, robs those in struggle from the chance to reconsider.<\/p>\n Wayne Strickland,\u00a0a 32-year veteran of the Coronado Fire Department and the founder of the grassroots movement,\u00a0Coronado San Diego Bridge\u00a0Collaborative For Suicide Prevention<\/a>, is one of many in the community pushing for the deterrent<\/a>.<\/p>\n