Suicide Prevention Signs on Bridges

[peterj920]

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5333733,-88.0080817,3a,75y,199.57h,69.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2t-WmFgT5h4Ccopef3yv_w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Above I have a google streetview of the I-43 Leo Frigo Bridge in Green Bay.  In response to suicides on the top of the bridge, signs for emergency counseling with a phone number to call have been installed.  Are there any other bridges that have signs similar? 

[briantroutman]

Easily the most famous destination site for bridge suicides in the U.S. is the Golden Gate–so much so that a documentary was dedicated to the topic. Suicide prevention call boxes were posted in 1993.




The topic made me think of the location where I first saw suicide prevention call boxes, the PA Turnpike bridge over US 11 at Clarks Summit, but they were removed when a high chain link fence was installed several years ago. This location is notable in that it crosses, not water, but land, and a populated area at that. In at least one suicide, the jumper nearly collided with pedestrians below.

Does anyone have any pictures of the now-gone PA Turnpike suicide call boxes?

[jemacedo9]

The topic made me think of the location where I first saw suicide prevention call boxes, the PA Turnpike bridge over US 11 at Clarks Summit, but they were removed when a high chain link fence was installed several years ago. This location is notable in that it crosses, not water, but land, and a populated area at that. In at least one suicide, the jumper nearly collided with pedestrians below.

Does anyone have any pictures of the now-gone PA Turnpike suicide call boxes?

That PA Turnpike bridge does have the following signs: https://goo.gl/maps/RjDonnQz5bk  but I think the call boxes are gone.

I think the I-195 Braga Bridge in Fall River MA has signs also.

[Mapmikey]

Verrazano Narrows Br and the Delaware Memorial Bridge have these as well...

[1995hoo]

The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, has similar signs, although they're more like plaques befitting the historic nature of the bridge. Behind me to my right. The walkway has a curved fence to prevent jumping, but if you jump from the general area where I was standing you'll still die. It's a LONG way down.

[dgolub]

I'm pretty sure that I've seen them on the RFK Bridge (I-278), formerly and for many of us forever known as the Triboro Bridge.

[txstateends]

I've not seen any jumper-specific signage by bridges around TX but have seen more and more instances of high fencing along the sides--some straight up, others curved at the top.

[SectorZ]

The Tobin Bridge (US-1) in Boston/Chelsea, MA has a few of them.

[7/8]

Another famous suicide bridge is the Prince Edward Viaduct in Toronto (which I happened to drive along for the first time only a few weekends ago). They installed the "luminous veil" (see below) to prevent more suicides from happening.

From Wikipedia

Over time, the Prince Edward Viaduct became a magnet for suicide, falling bodies posing risk to the traffic underneath. With nearly 500 suicides by 2003, the viaduct ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in North America, after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.[6][7] At its peak in 1997, the suicide rate averaged one person every 22 days.[citation needed] In 1957, a child also climbed onto the railing and fell accidentally while walking along it.[8]

The suicides and safety risks prompted the construction of a barrier in 2003, though it was first approved by Toronto City Council in 1998 and delayed because of concerns about funding; during that time, the viaduct was the site of an estimated 48 to 60 suicides.[9][10][11] The council originally approved a C$2.5 million budget. However, the minimum bid for construction was C$5.5 million.[9] Council eventually endorsed a fundraising campaign to raise the remainder of the money.[12] Construction was completed in 2003 at the cost of $5.5 million, with $2.5 million coming from taxpayers.[12]

The barrier was called the Luminous Veil.[6] Designed by architect Dereck Revington and engineers at Halcrow Yolles and completed in 2003, the Luminous Veil consists of over 9,000 steel rods, 12.7 cm apart and 5 m high, stretched to cantilevered girders.[13] The tensile structure was difficult to analyze and required several tests at the University of Toronto. Initially, cost prohibited the planned lighting to be installed on the top horizontal member. The lighting installation was completed in July 2015.[14] The Luminous Veil received in 1999 a Canadian Architect Award of Excellence.[15]

This photo I found from this webpage shows a Distress Centre sign and phone, though I don't know for sure if it's still around.

[DevalDragon]

Interstate 75 in Saginaw Michigan over the Saginaw river.

[Rothman]

Tangent:  Some poor lady in my office somehow ended up with an office number very similar to a number on one of these signs on a local bridge.  She got a call from a distressed individual once.

Have to say that sort of thing would probably make things worse for the person considering the jump ("I can't even get help right.").

[PHLBOS]

For years, there has been these green signs near an along the Tappan Zee Bridge.

[kkt]

The Aurora Bridge in Seattle (officially the George Washington Memorial Bridge, but hardly anyone calls it that).

[MASTERNC]

That PA Turnpike bridge does have the following signs: https://goo.gl/maps/RjDonnQz5bk  but I think the call boxes are gone.

They don't have them on the mainline Turnpike, even on the Delaware River bridge

[epzik8]

The Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge over the Patuxent River between Calvert and St. Mary's counties in Maryland has suicide hotline numbers posted across the highest sections of the bridge.

[Bitmapped]

The I-68 bridges over MD 55 between Frostburg and LaVale have suicide hotline numbers posted at each end.

[cjw2001]

Tangent:  Some poor lady in my office somehow ended up with an office number very similar to a number on one of these signs on a local bridge.  She got a call from a distressed individual once.

Have to say that sort of thing would probably make things worse for the person considering the jump ("I can't even get help right.").

I've had the unexpected opportunity to do suicide intervention twice during my travels (both times at hotels).  It's not something you can prepare for, but you just do your best to deal with the situation that presents itself.

[US-175]

The way things are going, the High Five (I-635/US 75 interchange) in north Dallas and the US 75/Bush Turnpike interchange farther north are going to need something like this, or fence barriers, or something.  The jumper (and attempt to jump) rate in those 2 spots has risen in recent years.