Plans to install a suicide-prevention barrier on the Aurora Bridge are moving forward as a citizen advisory committee continues to meet and discuss proposed designs.

The Aurora Bridge, officially named the George Washington Memorial Bridge when it was built in 1931, has the second highest rate of suicides in the United States after the Golden Gate Bridge. Since a shoe salesman first leapt from the bridge in 1932, 230 people are known to have committed suicide on the historic monument, including five during the last twelve months.

While there is a concern for those committing suicide, Jodie Vice, legislative aide for Seattle City Council member Jan Drago, explained that the council is not attempting to take on the greater issue of suicide prevention but aims to keep those who live and work below the bridge safe.

Not all those who jump from the Aurora bridge land in the water. Many have been found in the parking lot of the Adobe Inc. complex below.

Ryan Thurston, who has worked in the complex for three years, has seen the aftermath of more than 15 suicides from his desk window at the semiconductor company Impinj. He said that many of his coworkers have taken time off or received counseling after witnessing the suicides.

"You just shut your blinds and try to get on with the day as much as possible," Thurston said. "But you never get used to it."

In 2006 a record high of nine people jumped from the Aurora Bridge, but it was a 15-year-old girl from Ballard High School that Thurston remembers most vividly. Seeing a memorial where she had landed one morning, he realized how impulsive suicides on the bridge could be.

That year Thurston formed FRIENDS (Fremont Residents, Individuals and Employees Nonprofit to Decrease Suicides), a group of people who live and work in Fremont and are dedicated to ending suicides from the Aurora Bridge.

In response to community concern the city of Seattle installed emergency call boxes and crisis signs on the bridge in November of 2006. Still, eight people jumped off the Aurora Bridge the following year.

"I don't think the phones are adequate," said Sue Eastgard, director of Washington State Youth Suicide Prevention Program. "We've heard some stories about people calling and lives being saved, but I think we need something more restrictive."

Eastgard points out that a barrier would not only deter suicides, but is likely to prevent them from occurring.

Research has suggested that those who are unable to commit suicide on the bridge are unlikely to follow through by other means. According to a study by Dr. Richard Seiden, who was looking at the effectiveness of a barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge, 90 percent of those who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to kill themselves. He described suicide as a crisis-oriented behavior that is acute in nature.

"The research is pretty clear that barriers keep people from dying," Eastgard said. "They don't just go to a different spot."

Suicide barriers have been constructed on other bridges and structures with previously high suicide rates. In Toronto, Canada, the city installed a barrier known as the luminous veil, on the Bloor Street Viaduct.

Previously the structure with the second highest incident of suicide attempts in the United States, the barrier has prevented suicides and received local acclaim for its aesthetic appeal.

In Washington, D.C. suicides on the Duke Ellington Bridge also lead to the installation of a fence, which has since been criticized for blocking the view of the Rock Creek Park.

While the barrier's design is still being developed, there are several different options being debated. One model would include glass panels overhead to prevent anyone from climbing over. Other community members have debated between screens and bars for a fence.

Low-level lighting has also been included in many of the proposed design plans.

Some of the barrier's qualities have been determined. Hung Huynh, the project engineer at the Washington State Department of Transportation, explained that building equipment will limit the barrier's height to 10 feet.

The barrier itself has received some criticism. Some members of the community are concerned that a fence will obstruct the view from the bridge, a primary reason that it has been so popular for pedestrians. But Greg Phipps, from the Washington State Department of Transportation, says they are carefully considering this objection.

"We share a general interest in keeping [the fence] as low and as transparent as possible to reduce overall visual affect," Phipps said.

Others have suggested that city funds would be better used on improving mental health care. While Eastgard emphasized the importance of mental health access, she does not see it as an alternative to the barrier.

"We have to do something to protect the people below and the people up above," Eastgard said.

A major factor in the planning process has been the preservation of the bridge's historical aesthetic.

In 1982 the Aurora Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic places. Once the Washington State Department of Transportation decides on a design it must be approved by a landmarks preservation board this fall before construction can begin.

State Legislature must also approve additional funding. So far $1.5 million has been designated for barrier design, but the city council estimated the construction of the barrier, as well as improved lighting, will cost an additional $5.9 million.

If the project stays on schedule construction on the bridge could begin in late 2010.

Rose Egge can be reached at rosee@robinsonnews.com.