![]() Officials said the netting and other safety measures put in place also have improved the chances that first responders can arrive in time to intervene. But the changes to the bridge were meant to make it harder for people to die so publicly and to potentially have a change of heart. It’s difficult to know if someone’s thwarted efforts to take their own life by jumping means that they are still alive today. Transportation Department officials never claimed the barrier would be 100% effective at stopping people from jumping from the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Incidents on the Skyway in the last year show how the fencing factored in suicide threats - and how trying to keep people from jumping is still part of the job for first responders. “The fencing has been an effective deterrent to those wishing to harm themselves along the iconic span,” said Highway Patrol Sgt. State officials said the statistics show the fence is working as planned, significantly reducing the number of suicides from a bridge that has consistently ranked among the deadliest in the nation for suicides. Before the barrier was built, about one person a month died by jumping from the bridge. So far, though, those are the only confirmed suicides from the bridge in the last 12 months, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Robert Altman of Amherst interrupted the press conference to voice opposition to removal.The man’s death marked a grim milestone: the first suicide on the Skyway since the steel mesh fencing was completed at the end of June 2021. However, the Skyway isn’t without its supporters. “These are transformational generational projects that we will never have an opportunity potentially in our lifetime to do this again, because we may not have another federal infrastructure bill to this level in our lifetime,” said Kennedy, D-Buffalo. ![]() Tim Kennedy, who joined Higgins at the press conference. The state website currently says it “considered the concepts from the design competition in establishing a reasonable range of alternatives for the project.”Īccording to last year’s state report, the total project, including replacing the Skyway with either a new boulevard or highway, is expected to cost about $600 million.įunding could soon be available through Biden’s nearly $2 trillion infrastructure plan, so the time to act is now, said state Sen. A state report released last August says it expects to make a decision on how to replace the highway this July, while Cuomo said in his January State of the State address that the state is ready to break ground on removing the Skyway before the end of the year.Ī failure of any one of the Skyway's 167 metal pins could result in a catastrophic collapse, says Congressman Brian Higgins.Ī proposal to remove most of the Skyway but repurpose a portion of it near Canalside into an elevated park won a state-run contest in 2019. The state is on board with removing the Skyway. And if they fail to do something about it, they have exposure relative to liability.” ![]() “They need to know that there are hazardous conditions for both motorists and pedestrians. “So it's putting on notice that there are problems with this,” Higgins said. He also said it poses a danger of falling debris to pedestrians around Canalside, and is a pollutant to the Outer Harbor. Higgins, D-Buffalo, said engineers consider the nearly 70-year-old, 100-foot-high bridge “fracture critical,” meaning a failure of any one of its 167 metal pins could result in a catastrophic collapse, and “functionally obsolete,” meaning it could not be built under today’s federal standards. Higgins, a longtime advocate of removing the Skyway for better waterfront access, announced he’s filed a notice of hazardous condition with the state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as the state Attorney General’s Office. “The Skyway is dangerous, it is dated, and it is dirty,” he said during a press conference near where the Skyway runs past KeyBank Center. Tim Kennedy speak Thursday morning beside the Skyway near KeyBank Center. Congressman Brian Higgins (left) and state Sen.
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