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Maine and New Hampshire officials are moving forward with a feasibility study for a suicide deterrent barrier on the I-95 Piscataqua River Bridge between the two states.
This comes after three suicides this spring on bridges connecting Kittery and Portsmouth.
About 80,000 vehicles cross the Piscataqua River Bridge each day. In the summer, that number climbs to 130,000.
One person who died by suicide from the bridge was Jonathan “Jony” Hunter, a Sanford teenager whose family said he had shown no signs of depression.
After Hunter’s death, new signs were installed on the bridge encouraging people to call a suicide crisis line.
“Two individuals have gone to the bridge contemplating going over the catwalk and have ultimately decided to leave and call for support,” Kelly Hartnett of the Seacoast Mental Health Center said. “So it’s showing that the signs are actually doing what they’re intended to do.”
Still, Seacoast Mental Health Center supports suicide barriers on the bridge.
Stantec, an engineering firm, will lead the study, which will include an evaluation of the costs of netting or a barrier and how well they’d withstand wind, snow and ice.
The goal is to determine which suicide deterrent system would work best.
“A barrier allows people to pause, stop, and reevaluate their situation and seek help,” Hartnett said. “So ultimately, that’s what we’re going to advocate for with the state of New Hampshire and the state of Maine.”
The study group is also looking at the new suicide barrier now up on Maine’s Penobscot Narrows Bridge, where Stephanie Cossette’s 25-year-old son, Brandon, took his life.
“My son leaped over in a matter of seconds,” Cossette said.
She says her son struggled with a mental health disorder and believes a barrier could have saved his life.
“Unless you have the barriers up, the suicides will continue,” Cossette said.
Officials are also exploring increased monitoring of cameras on the Piscataqua River Bridge, as well as AI detection systems to warn first responders when a pedestrian is up there.
Last month, Kittery police stopped someone from jumping.
“They were able to successfully negotiate that individual in crisis down,” Hartnett said.
