And the money argument is moot. They're spending multi-billions of dollars replacing and retrofitting the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, but they can't spend far, far less money to provide a suicide prevention barrier for the Golden Gate? Lunacy! The only real reason alone is tourist dollars and bureaucratic red tape. End of discussion.
Actually, there's a
very real reason that the barrier has not gone up (and, times being what they are, likely never will): the folks who run the bridge (the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District) have decreed that a suicide barrier cannot be built using money from bridge tolls:
When the plan was approved, district officials stipulated that the barrier could not be built using the money collected in bridge tolls, leaving the source unclear for the $45 million needed to complete the net. “We’ve found a solution that has minimal impacts visually and aesthetically,” Ms. Currie said. “Now it’s just about getting the remaining funding to build it.”
Why the district officials made such a stipulation, I don't know, exactly (anyone?). Regardless, there is nothing to prevent the $45 million from being raised through private means. However, if I understand correctly, the majority of San Franciscans do not support a suicide barrier being erected on the bridge. Perhaps that's the reason why the bridge district won't fund the barrier with taxpayer money: the taxpayers do not support the idea.
reply
share