Large anti-suicide barriers to be installed at Archway Bridge

Harringey Council and TFL are investigating suicide prevention measures that could be put in place at Archway Bridge after a wave of tragic deaths last year.

The plans are a result of the pressure put on by Anti-Suicide Campaign, which was set up two years ago in response to the countless deaths since the bridge was opened in 1903.

 

The scheme includes installation of large anti-suicide barriers modeled on technology used at Clifton Suspension Bridge, which has helped to halve suicides in Bristol.

Sarah Cope, one of the campaign’s founders said:

“The council is now looking at a few different ideas in terms of design and tests. Robert Dearman, an architect who had been previously commissioned to investigate some safety measures at the bridge, had a meeting with the Harringey Council last week, and the things are really progressing now”.

The decision means a significant move for the campaigners, after their proposals to build a net underneath the bridge were rejected last year. A petition was signed by over 600 local people, but The Council said that such a measure would not be effective in preventing suicides.

Sarah Cope added: “Before, the Council wasn’t even thinking of doing anything. For the first year and a half of our campaign, they were only saying: stop campaigning on this, stop talking about it, and that by publicizing it, we are making it more likely that people will jump”.

“We were always against that notion. We simply cannot sit by while people are killing themselves. It has been a problem since the beginning of the 20^th century when the bridge was built. We are really thinking that it is enough now and that the Council must take an immediate action”.

Campaigners  say that TFL is willing to invest in the project . The Harringay Council, however, denies that any decision has been made yet. The Council spokesman said:

“The council is in regular contact with partner organisations and the voluntary sector about Archway Bridge. No decision has been made about how work of this kind could be paid for.”

The bridge spans the busy A1, one of the most traffic-heavy roads in London. In 2011 alone, two men have jumped from the bridge, including one on 28th November who was pronounced dead on the scene. The following day a woman also threatened to jump but didn’t commit suicide.