One of the last major hurdles for a suicide deterrent on the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge was cleared on Wednesday, June 10, when the California Coastal Commission unanimously agreed to approve a Coastal Development Permit for structural netting along the bridge as well as new under-bridge maintenance walkways.
The Coastal Commission permit was the final step for the installation of an 8-foot vertical steel mesh barrier on both sides of the bridge.
The barriers are intended to prevent suicides.
The mesh will be brushed stainless steel wire with roughly one-inch openings — 87 percent see-through — enabling drivers to retain most of their San Diego Bay and downtown San Diego skyline views.
The steel wire netting will sit atop the bridge’s existing 34-inch concrete guardrails, anchored by metal plates and support posts and held in place by tension cables. Wire spikes every four inches will run along the top edge. The mesh will be set back eight inches from the outer guardrail face, eliminating any foothold from below or handhold above.
“It’s hard to see items like this on an agenda, but at the same time, we want to call it out,
and appreciate the investments being made to protect our friends and neighbors,” said
California Coastal Commissioner Christopher Lopez during the June 10 meeting.
Funding for the project still requires approval from the California Transportation
Commission, which could happen as early as this month.
The project cost is estimated at $140 million, according to Aaron Hunter, External Affairs
Manager for Caltrans District 11.
The project is in the design phase, with construction expected to begin in late 2026 and an
expected completion in late 2028. Most of the construction will take place at night to
lessen the impact on traffic.
“Mental health and self-harm are not topics that we often speak about here at the Coastal
Commission and they’re especially heavy topics,” said Coastal Commissioner and San Diego councilmember, Vivan Moreno, whose district includes neighborhoods directly below the bridge.
“Since 1996, approximately 400 people have died by suicide on the Coronado Bay Bridge. These numbers speak to the urgency behind the effort of the installation of metal mesh suicide deterrent barriers that are needed as an intervention to prevent injury and potential harm.”
As part of the permit, the California Coastal Commission also included a requirement for
new painted murals on four bridge columns near Chicano Park, the replacement of the chain-link and barbed wire fencing along the Coronado Bayshore Bikeway underneath the bridge with a fence no higher than four feet, and protecting a pair of peregrine falcons and their nests as well as other migratory birds that live or visit on the San Diego side of the bridge.
The bridge has the second-highest number of suicides in the state, after the Golden Gate Bridge, Moreno said.
The project follows years of advocacy by local groups, including former first responders like retired Coronado firefighter Wayne Strickland, who has been a vocal proponent for decades for suicide prevention measures on the bridge.Strickland, 80, said he was a firefighter before the bridge began construction in the late 1960s, and that seeing so many lives lost has taken a deep emotional toll on family members, friends, and witnesses who are driving on the bridge when jumpers are present.
“We used to bring people who had jumped off the bridge to the boat ramp and do CPR on them,” Strickland said. “We never were able to save any of them.”
Caltrans estimates that between 500 and 550 people have jumped to their deaths since the bridge opened in 1969. Officials have not shared how often the bridge is closed due to suicide attempts or how long those closures typically last, but the advocacy group, Stop Coronado Bridge Suicides, reported in 2023 that the bridge averages 35 traffic shutdowns each year based on suicide attempts.
About 83,000 drivers use the bridge’s five travel lanes per day, according to Caltrans. The bridge rises on a 4.67 percent grade to its highest point, where it reaches 246 feet above the water, with a vertical clearance of about 200 feet for ships passing beneath.
In the main shipping channel — the deepest and most trafficked section — the vertical
clearance ranges from 175 to 195 feet.
Similar suicide deterrents were installed on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in January 2024. Studies found the deterrents contributed to a 73% drop in suicides.
Unlike the Golden Gate Bridge, which features a dedicated, accessible pedestrian walkway, the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge has no pedestrian path or shoulders. Walking across the Coronado Bridge is not allowed, except during special permitted events, like the annual Navy Bay Bridge Run/Walk.
