Obscuring an Icon: Groups Move Closer to a Barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge

Today’s Chronicle includes news that designs for the proposed suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge have been submitted. The $2 million study, of which the submitted designs are part, yeilded several alternatives. Each would

extend the existing 4-foot rail so it would rise to 12 feet in height; two would replace the entire railing, one with a 10-foot-tall barrier, another with a 12-foot-barrier; and another calls for hanging nets on the sides of the bridge to catch jumpers after they climb over the railing.

The nets would cost $25 million, and the four other railing designs would cost between $40 million and $50 million. The estimated price is expected to rise the longer the proposed project is delayed, and building a barrier would be a challenge because the bridge district’s piggybank for such a project is bare.

Debate is quite heated on these barriers, so one can expect plenty of delay. On the one side are groups who decry the romantic, iconic draw of the bridge for suicidal people. Over 1,250 suicides have been reported since the bridge opened in 1937, with 35 of those taking place last year alone (a record number). Since suicide is often an impulsive gesture, the barriers would serve to obstruct action and give despondant people a chance to return to rational thought.

On the other side of the issue stand those who don’t want the bridge altered in a way that obstructs the famous view. These groups point out that a suicidal person can committ suicide anywhere: a fence around the bridge is not going to stop someone determined to end his or her life. Interestingly,  “all the potential barriers – which are intended to impede but not absolutely prevent suicide attempts – would change the look of the bridge.

So is it worth it then to build a barrier if that barrier won’t even stop a suicide? Or will these obstacles make, in the words of psychiatrist Dr. Mel Blaustein ”a big difference in preventing suicides” on a bridge that “has become the top suicide magnet in the world.”

Wherever you stand in this debate, you should know the facts. Whether we see railings go up, or glass panels, horizontal or vertical fencing– or nothing at all– is in some ways still up to the public.

The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District has scheduled two public workshops on the draft environmental document that studied proposed suicide barriers.

– July 22, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., Embassy Suites Hotel, 101 McInnis Parkway, San Rafael.

– July 23, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., San Francisco Ferry Building, Port Commission hearing room, second floor.

To review the plan and comment online, go to www.ggbsuicidebarrier.org.

Related Links:

**Heidi Benson’s (of San Francisco Chronicle)study on barrier: Lethal Beauty

**Golden Gate Bridge Barrier Study Homepage

**Heated debate for and against barriers: Rincon Hill San Francisco

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Photo credit: Golden Gate Transportation District