PORTLAND — Nine-foot-high fences now line both sides of the Portland’s Vista Bridge, an 87-year-old span known locally as the “The Suicide Bridge.”
At least 19 people have jumped from the bridge in the past decade, including five this year.
In an effort to prevent further deaths, the group Friends of The Vista Bridge asked the city earlier this year to erect suicide-prevention barriers.
Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick agreed and approved spending $236,000 to install temporary fencing until federal money is available for a permanent barrier that is architecturally appropriate for the historic bridge.
Work started last month and was completed last week.
