Public debate continued Thursday over plans for a suicide barrier atop the Cold Spring Arch Bridge on scenic Highway 154, but a Caltrans official made it clear the agency intends to proceed with the controversial project.

Opponents contend erecting a barrier there will only divert, not prevent, suicides.

“Caltrans has an obligation to prevent more tragedies at this location,” Caltrans District Director Rich Krumholz told board members of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.

“The no-build option has been rejected because it does not address the safety issue. This problem has a correctable solution, and that is to build a barrier,” he added during an informational hearing for the 13-member board, which took no action.

Because the 6-foot-high barrier would be built on a state highway, SBCAG has no authority to approve or deny the project, which frustrated at least one board member.

“We're going to have a structure regardless of the public's feeling (about) it?” asked Lompoc Mayor Dick DeWees. “It just seems to me we're going through the motions here, that the whole decision has been made and there's going to be a barrier.”

He added that studies done by Garrett Glasgow, an associate professor of political science at UCSB, state “there's no evidence a suicide prevention barrier at Cold Spring Arch Bridge would save lives.”

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Proponents of the project insist the barrier would reduce the number of suicides locally, however.

In the past quarter century, 31 people have jumped to their deaths from the Cold Spring Arch Bridge, and a total of 43 since the span was built in 1963, according to Caltrans and Sheriff's Department statistics. Caltrans officials said the 1,200-foot-long bridge has the highest concentration of fatalities for any location on a state highway in a five-county area comprising its District 5.

Glasgow told the board that bridge barriers only divert persons intent on suicide to other locations or methods.

“Suicide barriers have been proven to reduce fatalities at that location but not to save lives,” he said at the 45-minute hearing in Santa Maria.

A spokeswoman for the Glendon Association, which has strongly urged construction of the barrier, said they have been shown to be an effective deterrent.

“In many areas where barriers have gone up, suicide rates have gone down,” said Lisa Firestone, a clinical psychologist and the association's director of education.

Blocking people from jumping off the bridge will also make it safer for law enforcement and emergency personnel who are dispatched there each time someone commits or attempts suicide, said Krumholz and sheriff's Commander Dominic Palera.

Adding a suicide barrier “is going to provide enhanced safety,” Palera told the SBCAG board. “The railing is the right thing to do for the right reason.”

Marc McGinnis, who heads an anti-barrier group called Friends of the Bridge, called the project a “boondoggle,” however.

“This is a lavishly funded project in search of a purpose,” he said.

Krumholz said the project costs “are still being refined,” but estimated they will be about $1 million. That's higher than earlier estimates of $600,000 to $700,000, but he did not explain the increase. Caltrans hopes to begin construction of the barrier in 2010.

A draft environmental impact report on the project was released for public review May 9. Public comments on the document and its findings will be accepted by the Caltrans staff at two meetings early next month.

The first will be on June 9 at the Santa Barbara Public Library, and the second will be on June 10 at the Solvang Veterans Building. Both meetings are scheduled from 5:30 to

8:30 p.m.

Copies of the document can be viewed at local libraries or online at www.dot.ca.gov/

dist05/projects.

County Supervisor Brooks Firestone wondered if an alternative might be to increase vegetation or install a net below the bridge so a person could potentially survive the 400-foot fall. Officials said that wouldn't be feasible and would still imperil rescue personnel responsible for retrieving the injured or dead person

“It would be very difficult to place something at the bottom of the bridge to soften the impact,” Palera responded.

Friends of the Bridge have suggested, instead of building a barrier, that call boxes linked to a suicide hotline be placed on the bridge, a closed-circuit camera system be installed to spot people before they jump and law-enforcement patrols be increased. Such a “human barriers” response plan would be more effective in deterring suicidal behavior than physical barriers, the group contends.

Chuck Schultz can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2241, or cschultz@santamariatimes.com.

May 16, 2008