$76-million Golden Gate Bridge suicide deterrent plan considered

San Francisco transportation officials on Friday will consider whether to approve $76 million in funding to install a net system to prevent suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Last year, 43 people leaped off the bridge, also endangering the lives of motorists and public safety officials who are called to respond, according to a Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District report.

After hearing testimony from the public about the effects of suicide, transportation officials say the “construction of the suicide deterrent simply is the right thing to do at this time.”

To construct the net system, rolling scaffolds used by maintenance workers under the bridge must be replaced because the project will block the equipment.

A separate $8-million wind retrofit project will be combined with the net system installation to avoid delays from construction.

Crews will then install a horizontal net system that extends 20-feet below the bridge sidewalk.

In early June, Sean Moylan, 27, the grandson of John Moylan, an advocate for a suicide barrier plan on the Golden Gate Bridge, jumped off the bridge to his death.

The elder Moylan told the Marin Independent Journal the bridge should not be blamed for his grandson’s death and that his grandson had been troubled.

The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District’s board will meet to discuss the project.

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