City Wants Feedback on Design Options For Colorado Street Bridge Barriers

The City is seeking feedback on the current design options for the Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Enhancement. 

The Department of Public Works hosted a community engagement webinar on Aug. 29 to share the preliminary design concepts that have been developed for the Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Enhancement. 

Apexx Architecture, the firm engaged by the City of Pasadena, presented four preliminary design options. The four options are:

• Option 1: Canted Webmesh
• Option 2: Vertical Cables
• Option 3: Metal Pickets
• Option 4: Vertical Webmesh

Architectural firm Apexx Architecture has been working on the concept design for the bridge barriers since April 2023. 

The City took down previous barriers after the Public Safety Committee did not approve the recommended concept design in August 2021. The Committee instead directed the Department of Public Works to review more options and get more input from the public.

The Department issued two formal Requests for Proposals (RFP) to hire a design consultant to develop new concepts for the vertical barrier. No proposals were received during the first RFP. 

Since May, public works staff and the project’s Stakeholder Group, comprised of community members and professionals including experts from the field of architecture, historic preservation, and suicide prevention, have been meeting to assess the barrier design ideas and preliminary concepts proposed by Apexx Architecture. 

After getting public input, the design team will further develop the preliminary concepts and return to the community with an update this fall. 

The updated design concepts will be presented to the Historic Preservation and Design Commissions by the end of the year, and finally to the Public Safety Committee in January 2024. 

The Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Enhancement Project aims to deter people from attempting suicide by deliberately jumping off the bridge. 

In 2017, a temporary 10-foot tall chain link fence was installed at each of the bridge alcoves due to a significant increase in the number of suicide incidents. Despite this, the incidents continued, prompting the City Council, in that same year to direct city staff to develop a design for the barriers.

Six years have passed and still, the City Council has not yet approved a design for the barriers. 

The public works department currently has $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that will cover the expenses for the design and a portion of construction.

Help is available all the time:

National Suicide Hotline (988 Lifeline): Dial 988 for 24/7 support

Didi Hirsch 24-hour Crisis Line: 1-877-727-4747 (en Español: 1-800-628-9454) 

LGBTQ – The Trevor Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386

Trans Crisis Line (Trans Lifeline): 1-877-565-8860

Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741-741