Caltrans officials announced on March 1 that the project to install a suicide barrier on the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge along Highway 154 has been completed. A grid-mesh barrier has been installed on both sides of the bridge, which has been the location of 55 suicides since it opened in 1964.
“I am pleased this project has been completed which will enhance safety for everyone who travels on the bridge,” Caltrans District 5 Director Rich Krumholz said in a prepared statement.
The contractor for this $778,000-project was Bugler Construction of Pleasanton. The project hit several roadblocks on its way to construction, including a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Bridge, a nonprofit activist group. A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge temporarily halted construction in July 2010 and required Caltrans to re-circulate a final environmental impact report for public comment.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2012.