The city of Pasadena has unveiled several designs for permanent barriers along the Colorado Street Bridge. They want the public's help in narrowing down these concepts.
Why it matters: The iconic bridge was known as the world's highest concrete bridge when it opened in 1913. In the years since, it's earned a more macabre distinction as "suicide bridge" for the people who've taken a fatal leap.
Why now: In 2018, the city manager called for temporary fencing to be installed across the entire 1,400-foot span of the bridge, after police spent 13 hours talking a would-be jumper down. Since then, Pasadena has been on the hunt for a permanent design that's both practical and tasteful, and earlier this week it released four that are under consideration.
See the designs: Read the full story to check them out.
The City of Pasadena has unveiled several designs for permanent barriers along the Colorado Street Bridge, and they want the public's help in refining these concepts.
The iconic bridge, towering 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, was said to be the world's tallest concrete bridge when it opened in 1913.
In the years since, it's earned the more macabre distinction as the site of a number of suicides — in one widelyreportedfigure, more than 150 people have made the fatal leap. About half of them took place during the Great Depression.
Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena at sunset with snow covered mountains in the distance
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Jim Brown/Getty Images
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iStockphoto
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Why now
An unusually high wave of suicides and attempts in 2017 prompted the city to install 10-foot tall mesh fencing at each of the bridge's 20 alcoves.
A year later, after police spent 13 hours talking down a would-be jumper over Labor Day weekend, then-city manager Steve Mermell ordered the entire 1,400-foot span of the bridge to be fenced.
“It’s going to be very unattractive," the mayor at the time, Terry Tornek, told Pasadena Now. Still, he said, "[w]e need to take action."
To prevent a future crisis, here's how to help someone make a safety plan.
And ever since, the city has been on the lookout for a permanent design that's both practical and tasteful.
Historic Colorado Boulevard Bridge in Pasadena with sunset sky.
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trekandshoot/Getty Images
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iStockphoto
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Check out the 4 designs
Earlier this week, the city unveiled a number of designs that are under consideration.
Design #1: Canted webmesh
Design #1: Canted webmesh
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #1: Canted webmesh.
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #2: Vertical cables
Design #2: Vertical cables
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #2: Vertical cables
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #3: Vertical picket
Design #3: Vertical picket
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #3: Vertical picket
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #4A and #4B: Vertical webmesh with shorter or taller light posts
Design #4A and 4B: Vertical webmesh, with taller or shorter light posts
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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Design #4A and 4B: Vertical webmesh
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Courtesy of City of Pasadena
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For more information about the Colorado Street Bridge barrier project, go here.
How to weigh in
If you'd like to be part of the discussion, you can submit your thoughts using this city survey by Sept. 10.
"From information that we gather from that, we're going to be further developing those preliminary design concepts and then presenting them back to the community, probably in October," said Hayden Melbourn, a principal engineer with Pasadena's Department of Public Works.
Melbourn said the hope is for the city council to settle on a permanent new look by early 2024, after additional rounds of input from different city commissions and from the public.
