Widower calls for better bridge barrier to block suicides

A man whose wife committed suicide from the High Level Bridge urged city councillors Monday to improve the fences so more people don’t die.

“I would like some impediment put up to stop people in the moment unhappy with their lives, so they have some pause,” said Dan Klemke, whose wife Marilyn killed herself in January 2013 following problems with medication.

“Some people will find a way, but I don’t think that’s the majority. There’s an impulse factor. … The High Level Bridge has been a focal point as far as I can remember for people taking their lives.”

He asked council’s community services committee to support putting a roughly three-metre-high chain-link fence along the bridge sidewalks, with the links small enough that most people can’t get over it.

Klemke, chief executive of an Edmonton-based mining company, brought in a mockup of the current fence, built with large spaces between wiring he said “even a child could climb.”

His option should cost less than the $600,000 estimated by city officials looking at ways to reduce the death toll from the bridge, where 14 people jumped between July 2012 and July 2013, Klemke said. That’s about 10 per cent of the total 143 Edmonton suicides Alberta Justice says were recorded by the medical examiner’s office in 2012.

Klemke, who at times teared up during his presentation, said the option would save money by eliminating an additional barrier at the top of the fence curving in toward the sidewalk.

The committee supported installing signs on the bridge about how to reach help and phones to the distress line, but asked for input in May from mental-health experts and more details about the barrier options.

They also include a higher $720,000 fence, which a city report says might make pedestrians feel confined, or a special $2.9-million antiscalable barrier made of horizontal wires.

However, research is mixed on how well barriers reduce suicide, with some reductions at some bridges and no improvement at others, the report says.

“The notoriety is already there. I’m hoping the signs won’t be the final trigger … and maybe used,” said Mayor Don Iveson, who indicated he has lost two friends from the bridge. “I was hesitant about the barriers until today. Now I think maybe we do need to pursue them.”

However, the city must consider such factors as ensuring barriers don’t deter pedestrians or cyclists, or marthe 100-year-old bridge’s historic importance, Iveson said.

Klemke said later he’s happy councillors are acting on the issue.