‘Open House’ Details Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Options

As part of the City’s ongoing efforts to create a safer suicide mitigation barrier on the Colorado Street Bridge,  members of the Public Works Department and the design firm of Donald MacDonald Architects held a virtual open house Thursday to share details of the proposed new barrier plans.

The presentation was moderated by Hayden Melbourn, principal engineer for the Department of Public Works, and presented by Ara Maloyan, director of Public Works, along with Donald MacDonald and Steve Line of Donald MacDonald Architects.

After a troubling spate of suicide attempts from the historic bridge in the spring of 2017, the City ordered the temporary emergency installation of 10-foot high chain-link fencing along the bridge a year later, following a stressful but successful 13-hour negotiation with a would-be jumper.

The City ordered the temporary emergency installation of 10-foot high chain-link fencing along the bridge in 2018 following a stressful but successful 13-hour negotiation with a would-be jumper. That incident followed a troubling spate of suicides and attempts from the historic bridge in the spring of 2017.

The fencing remains in place today, as the City reviews various design ideas to eliminate the ability of persons to jump from the bridge.

Architect Line described the three options for the online audience.

Option A is a “Mesh-Curved-Straight” design, which is curved up and around the lamp structures, and joined to a straight transparent mesh fence which runs the length of the bridge on each side, including but not blocking the 20 total alcoves.

Line noted that the design keeps the alcoves open while still having an effective barrier.

Said Line, “We are eliminating people’s ability to climb the lamp poles. The detailing at the base of those is such that there’s really not an ability to get a toe hold, and creating a 10-foot high barrier along the length of the balustrade so that anybody climbing up there still has an extremely difficult time to get over that. Almost nearly impossible. We hope.”

Line also noted that the stainless steel mesh material has a lifespan of 80 to 100 years, “at least if not more,” and is meant to be highly transparent.

Option B, known as “Mesh Curved-Curved,” said Line, is similar to option A around the lamp poles with an attempt to keep the fencing as low as possible.

“We’re not having to adjust the height of the lamp poles, and this has even come down almost two feet lower than the previous one. And we’re able to do that because the mesh option to the left of this, is curved.”

Line also explained that the architectural team thought it was important to maintain what he called the “constant horizontal data” around the top of the fencing. Option B also would eliminate as much of the structural framing around the lamps as possible to provide the most transparency, said Line.

Architect MacDonald also explained that the curves around the lamp structure pick up the curves of the arches below the bridge.

“So there’s a bit of a tie back to that existing vocabulary,” he said.

Line agreed, saying that the architects used the curve very intentionally, to  “minimize as much as possible people would call the ‘Standard Caltrans fencing effect, or the prison effect.’”

Lines described the curves on option B as “a multi-radius curve.”

Said Line,  “It’s got a much more organic shape to it, picking up on some of the architecture of the arches below. What it’s much more meant to do is complement the arches and at the same time, reduce the overall height of the barrier and the treatments around the lamp poles, while still retaining the full effectiveness of the barrier itself.”

Option C, known as “Picket Straight-Straight,” is a simple series of straight line barriers, like a metal “picket” fence along the length of the bridge and surrounding the lamps and alcoves.

But, said Line, “The problem with pickets is they’re highly breachable. So this is really introducing  many more options for people to climb over it.  Line mentioned the popular “parkour” exercise in which people climb buildings with no tools or special assistance.

“This presents that opportunity much more than the mesh, which can be woven fine enough that you can’t get your fingers or toes in any of those slots.”

While Line called the option an “ attractive solution,” he said that pickets used in this fashion would create a ‘stacking effect,” creating a barrier to the field of view from various angles.

“It’s a wall of pickets,” said Line. “And so you lose the transparency, looking through it, much more so than you do with the mesh.”

 Line also pointed out that the height of the pickets is 15 feet to accommodate a row of horizontal rails on the top that the pickets require for constructability.

“It pushes the lamp poles up quite a bit,” said Line. “So this option is the highest barrier and requires the most modification to the lamp poles.”

Line also added that while many people find the picket structure and design “quite attractive,” it is now competing a little bit more with the bridge itself. It’s becoming an architectural element of more substance.”

Melbourn also urged interested residents to complete a community feedback survey available here.

The Department of Public Works will next meet with the City’s Historic Preservation Commission, the Design Commission and the Public Safety Committee to share public feedback, and seek advice and recommendations on a single barrier design for City Council approval.

The presentation to the Historic Preservation Commission is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, April 20.

More information on the bridge project is available here.