City Convenes Community Tonight for Report on Colorado Street Bridge Barriers

The ongoing efforts to design permanent vertical barriers to prevent suicides from Pasadena’s best-known bridge will enter a new phase with Tuesday night’s presentation to the community, regarding what the community thinks, of what is known as the Colorado Street Bridge Suicide Mitigation Enhancements Project.

The City’s Department of Public Works has convened the meeting “to summarize the community’s comments and ideas and present concepts for the design of a vertical barrier on the Colorado Street Bridge,” according to a City bulletin.

More than 154 suicides have occurred from the Colorado Street Bridge since it was first built in 1919, with more than 30 in the past decade. The City has placed a temporary chain link fence along the alcoves, which has served to dramatically reduce attempts.

After the fencing installation, the suicide rate reportedly dropped by 63 percent to just three attempts.

The community input to be discussed originated in part at two earlier public forums.

Last May, the City Council awarded a professional services contract to San Francisco-based Donald MacDonald Architects for completion of the project’s environmental and design phases. The goal of the enhanced vertical barrier is to add a safety system to the Colorado Street Bridge without disrupting its structural and historical character.

The firm has worked on several well-known bridges that implemented mitigation efforts such as the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston, (South Carolina), and Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver, (British Columbia),” according to the staff report.

It is anticipated that the selected design will go to the Public Safety Committee in December with possible City Council consideration in January 2020.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 100 Garfield Avenue. For further information please contact Public Works, Engineering Division (626) 744-6771 or e-mail: ColoradoStBridge@cityofpasadena.net.