University of Minnesota erects fence on bridge to reduce suicide attempts

The University of Minnesota installed a temporary fence on the bridge to reduce the risk of suicide attempts.

The installation was created about a year after Kayla Gaebel’s suicide on the Washington Avenue Bridge. Gaebel’s mother, M.J. Weiss, spearheaded the effort to install barriers on the structure, attracting suicide prevention advocates.

A double-decker bridge connects the east and west sides of the University of Minnesota campus. A statement from university Vice President Alice Roberts-Davis said that every day approximately 20,000 pedestrians and 7,000 cyclists cross the upper level of the bridge, where the fence has been erected.

A fence blocks one side of the bridge to prevent traffic. The other side remains accessible to bicycles and scooters, and a fence extends the entire length of the bridge. The closed part of the bridge remains open to pedestrians. The statement said the new fence, which is estimated to cost $75,000, should not disrupt traffic.

Efforts to make the bridge safer are ongoing, but the temporary fencing will save lives, say suicide prevention advocates who have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of action over the years.

Erich Mische, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), said he was grateful that the university was addressing the issue.

“This is an incredibly powerful first step,” Mische said. “I greatly appreciate President (Rebecca) Cunningham for taking the leadership necessary to make this a reality.”

The bridge is owned by Hennepin County but generally supervised by the U, which involves complex efforts to make structural changes to the bridge.