PORT ANGELES — City Council member Cherie Kidd wants the council to discuss the height of the railing on the Eighth Street bridges, but first she wants to hear from you.
Kidd initially proposed that the seven-member council hold that discussion at its June 16 meeting, but the consensus was to wait until the next meeting July 7.
The purpose of the discussion, she said, would be for the council to decide if anything should be done to prevent suicide attempts on the renovated Tumwater Creek and Valley Creek bridges on Eighth Street that opened Feb. 24.
“I wanted to dialogue about it because it’s a current topic,” Kidd said. “If the citizens are concerned, we as the council need to address it.”
The former bridges, built in 1936, had 4-foot-2-inch fences that extended the length of the railings and 7-foot-8-inch fences that blocked jumpers from leaping off the central parts of the spans.
The new bridges have a 4-foot, 6-inch combination wall railing.
Awaits input
Kidd, who wasn’t on the council when the current railing height was determined, said Friday that she has decided to postpone that discussion until she receives more input.
And before the issue comes before the council, Kidd said she also wants to bring it up at the Port Angeles Forward Committee.
“I need to bring more definitive information to the council,” she said. “I want feedback from more people.”
Kidd won’t be present at the next meeting of the Port Angeles Forward Committee on July 9, so she will bring the issue up at the Aug. 13 meeting.
Since the bridges opened, one person, Port Angeles resident Joshua Reynolds, 19, jumped to his death from the Valley Creek Bridge.
Police have foiled three separate suicide attempts from the bridges since they opened. A fifth person threatened to commit suicide on the bridges in December 2008, before they opened.
There were 14 such incidents from December 1999 through August 2007, before the old bridges were removed.
No money
Kidd said she isn’t proposing that anything be done, adding that the city doesn’t have the money to replace the railings.
“Replacing the railing would be a huge cost,” she said. “I’m not proposing that right now. I’m just saying what the needs of the city are. We need to look at this.”
According to reports from the state Department of Transportation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide barriers, which are usually some sort of fence, can save lives by keeping people from leaping to their deaths on impulse.
Transportation officials have said research indicates that those who have attempted suicide from a bridge and are intercepted tend not to follow through elsewhere.
To correspond with Kidd, e-mail her at ckidd@cityofpa.us.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
