Golden Gate barrier study document
delayed eight months

By James Lanaras

October 17, 2007

An environmental document on a proposed suicide prevention barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge is going to take longer than expected.

The draft environmental study was expected to be completed by this month but now won't be finished and ready for public comment until mid-2008, according to Mary Currie, the spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. The final document is anticipated in late 2008, Currie said.

There was a change July 1 in the way the Federal Highway Administration participates in the review of environmental documents prepared in California, Currie said. The review responsibility was delegated to Caltrans from the Federal Highway Administration.

Currie said the delay is due in part to the "growing pains' of the transition.

"We cannot side-step this process and will continue to work as hard as we can to move this project through the environmental process successfully," she said.

Wind tunnel testing that was completed in May focused on three generic concepts for a suicide prevention barrier; adding to the existing railing, replacing the existing railing and using nets that cantilever out horizontally, Currie said.

The district has been working since June on the second phase of the study which entails evaluating the generic concepts that passed wind tunnel tests in accordance with required federal and state environmental laws and reviews, Currie said.

Because the Golden Gate Bridge is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, it is afforded protection under state and federal preservation laws.

"In accordance with these laws, the District, in addition to developing and releasing for public comment a draft environmental document, will be consulting with appropriate state and federal agencies throughout the process," Currie said.

The original study schedule was "ambitious", Currie said. More than 1,250 people have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge since 1937, and an average of two people jump each month.

Updates on the progress of the barrier studies and documents are available at www.ggbsuicidebarrier.org.

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