ERVING/GILL – Balancing safety and access to scenic vistas, Gill and Erving selectboards are supporting a new safety barrier on the French King Bridge – which has seen numerous suicide jumpers over the years.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation sent letters to each board recommending the preferred option of a secondary vertical picket extension behind the historic bridge railing with picket spacing matching the existing railing and the top of the pickets being 9½ feet above the sidewalk.
In the Dec. 7 letter from Interim District Highways Director, Peter Cavicchi, MassDOT said it had completed a feasibility study of the various protective screening options for the French King Bridge.
The intent of the project is to reduce the number of suicides, attempted suicides and reports of incidents of concern at the bridge, along with the associated emergency responses with municipal and state resources and their related hazards and expenses.
The study considered various factors when comparing each alternative including effectiveness, response concerns, structural maintenance, bridge inspection, aesthetics – including how it would affect views from the bridge and of the bridge, historical impacts and cost.
Other proposed options included a vertical picket extension, a net system below the deck and transparent plexiglass panels.
According to MassDOT, a preliminary cost of the project, which will be refined through the detailed design process is $3 million.
This protective screening option would be an additional safety feature to surveillance cameras that were installed in 2017.
The cameras operate as an “investigative tool,” not a preventive measure, according to Gill Police Chief Chris Redmond.
Currently the towns split the cost of the traffic surveillance camera maintenance and operation.
“The cameras provide us with incremental images and help establish a timeline, or determine whether or not someone just stopped to take a photo or if a more serious response is necessary,” Redmond said. “We’re able to make a more educated decision with them.”
Without the cameras, police and rescue teams sometimes were dispatched to search the river and riverbanks after passers-by saw someone they thought was contemplating jumping even if no one confirmed the person jumped.
According to data from the Erving and Gill Police and Fire Departments, in 2018 there were a total of 36 calls for service, two missing persons, 12 suicidal subjects taken into custody and 16 large scale investigations involving multiple agencies and many hours of searching.
Redmond said the barriers are important not only for the safety of people who may be in distress, but also for the first responders who may need to deal with someone at the railings.
“There are EMTs, firefighters, police officers of various departments, diving teams and other first responders putting their lives on the line as well,” Redmond said. “I’ve been in Gill since 1992 and it’s not getting any better.”
Erving Town Administrator Bryan Smith said the towns are “taking reasonable steps to ensure the bridge is as safe as possible without sacrificing the view from the bridge and its historical value.”