CBS Los Angeles
March 15, 2017 · News report
Pasadena Looks To Deter Jumps From Notorious 'Suicide Bridge' With Development Underway
Residents discuss protection before emergency fencing.
News & commentary
Browse reporting, interviews, organizational letters, and personal perspectives about the bridge.
28 articles and letters
Earlier history and prevention efforts ↓
Project reporting and commentary
Los Angeles Times
July 19, 2017 · Steve Lopez column
People keep leaping to their deaths from iconic Pasadena bridge. How do we stop them?
Connects the 2017 emergency fencing with longer-term prevention proposals and an interview with Didi Hirsch’s Kita Curry.
Los Angeles magazine
June 18, 2018 · Interview and reporting
The Complicated Case of the Colorado Street Bridge
Interviews on the tension between prevention measures and historic preservation during the early task-force period.
Pasadena Now
September 4, 2018 · News report
Pasadena to Install Emergency Fencing Along Entire Length of Colorado Street Bridge to Prevent Suicides
Reports the emergency decision to extend temporary fencing along the bridge in September 2018.
Pasadena Now
October 30, 2019 · Meeting report
Permanent Colorado Street Bridge Suicide Deterrent Focus is On Ten Foot Tall Steel Mesh Fencing
Reports residents’ and officials’ responses to the October 2019 concepts, including mesh transparency, alcoves, and the balance between protection and appearance.
Source and access note
Preferences expressed at the meeting were informal. They are separate from the City’s later public survey.
Pasadena Star-News
November 26, 2019 · News report
Unsightly, but necessary: Pasadena reacts to Colorado Street Bridge suicide barriers
Reports preservation commissioners’ mixed reactions to the early designs and requests for full-scale mockups, alongside differing views about netting.
Source and access note
The article’s suggestion that netting had never been considered conflicts with the City’s earlier alternatives review. Golden Gate net construction was still underway in 2019.
Pasadena Now
April 20, 2020 · Budget reporting
Colorado Street Bridge Enhancements Could be Delayed
Reports the pandemic-era budget proposal to omit a planned new $2 million appropriation for the Bridge. The paper’s Source 47 links the adopted budget outcome.
Pasadena Now
September 22, 2020 · Council report
Full-Scale Mock-Ups of Colorado Street Bridge Anti-Suicide Barriers to Be Installed in November
Covers the Council’s approval of a mockup contract capped at $160,210 and the installation and review schedule anticipated at the time.
Source and access note
The November installation date was a forecast. The mockups were installed in March 2021.
Pasadena Now
March 4, 2021 · News report
Public Invited to View, Weigh In on Barrier Mock-Ups on Colorado Street Bridge
Describes the launch of public viewing and the survey for the three full-scale mockups, including the different vantage points available to visitors.
Source and access note
The survey invitation is historical. The results and their separate response groups are discussed in the paper’s 2021 section.
Pasadena Now
March 26, 2021 · Meeting report
‘Open House’ Details Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Options
Reports the designers’ reasons for favoring mesh and their concerns about the height, light-standard changes, and visual effects of straight pickets.
Source and access note
Covers the March 25 open house. Statements about climb resistance and service life are claims made during the presentation.
Pasadena Now
April 1, 2021 · Brad Hanson opinion
Guest Opinion | Brad Hanson, Pasadena Beautiful: Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Options Impair Views, Degrade Walking Experience
Pasadena Beautiful’s president argues for reconsidering horizontal netting and describes the board’s objections to the vertical mockups.
Source and access note
The engineering and effectiveness claims are the writer’s arguments. The article’s 2016 date for the temporary ten-foot barrier is incorrect.
Pasadena Now
May 11, 2021 · Reporting on an organizational letter
Pasadena Heritage Wants Community, Public Works Dept. to Keep Looking for Additional Solutions to Bridge Suicide Barriers Being Considered
Reports Pasadena Heritage’s reasons for finding none of the three mockups acceptable as presented and its request for more compatible options.
West Pasadena Residents’ Association
June 8, 2021 · Organizational letter
The WPRA Letter to Mayor Gordo about the Colorado Street Bridge Barriers
WPRA asks the City to delay implementing the proposed vertical barriers while alternatives receive further study, including technology and lower barriers.
Source and access note
The signed letter is dated June 8, 2021. The webpage was posted June 19. It records the association’s position before the August committee review.
Pasadena Now
August 18, 2021 · Kathleen Clary Miller letter
Letter to the Editor: Crossing the Arroyo, Memories of the Colorado Bridge
A former resident recalls the bridge’s place in her life, supports a permanent barrier, and hopes the design will preserve its character.
Pasadena Now
August 19, 2021 · Committee report
City Committee Wants Further Review of Recommended Suicide Prevention Barriers for Colorado Street Bridge
Reports the committee’s decision to seek further work, along with members’ differing views on enclosure, staffing, design choices, and timing.
Source and access note
The article’s survey-ranking description and spending typography contain errors. The City report and the paper’s 2021 table provide the figures used in this guide.
Pasadena Now
September 1, 2022 · News report
Four Years After Decisive Incident, Final Barriers Still Not Up On Colorado Street Bridge
Reports contemporary frustration with the project’s pace, including comments from Sue Mossman and a resident, four years after the emergency fence.
Pasadena Now
September 22, 2022 · Committee report
Final Design Concepts for Colorado Street Bridge Barriers Likely Not Ready Until 2023
Covers the design reset, the projected 2023 review sequence, construction-funding uncertainty, and Madison’s call to hold to the proposed timetable.
Source and access note
The article misdates the Council’s vertical-barrier decision and describes the City’s death figures as attempts. The guide uses the official records for those points.
Pasadena Now
February 10, 2023 · News report
Colorado Street Bridge Mockup Barriers Removed, Community Set to Discuss Next Steps in Suicide Mitigation Project
Reports removal of the earlier mockups, a second consultant solicitation, and plans for the February community meeting.
Source and access note
The body describes removal of the middle mockup as expected on February 10, rather than confirming that all removal was already complete.
LAist
September 1, 2023 · News report
New Designs For Colorado Street Bridge Are Aimed At Keeping People Safe
Explains the four concepts shown in August 2023, with design illustrations, the public-feedback invitation, and the City’s anticipated next steps.
Source and access note
This covers the August concepts, before the three-design set presented in November. Survey deadlines and approval forecasts are historical.
Pasadena Now
January 10, 2024 · Commission report
No Consensus, No Approvals of New Colorado Street Bridge Suicide Mitigation Barrier Concepts at Design Commission Meeting
Reports the lack of consensus and differing views of Julianna Delgado, Robert Carpenter, Srinivas Rao, and Marie-Claude Fares about the three concepts.
Source and access note
Covers the January 9 advisory review. The City’s historical report says the light poles were repaired and reused in 1993, while their four-arm, four-globe portions were reconstructed. The funding figure describes the allocation reported at that time.
Pasadena Now
July 15, 2024 · Meeting preview
Pasadena City Council Committee to Review Update on Colorado Street Bridge Barrier Designs
Previews the July 2024 review of barrier concepts, commission feedback, surveys, and other prevention measures.
Pasadena Now
July 18, 2024 · Committee report
Mother’s Emotional Testimony Urges Swift Action to Prevent Suicides at Colorado Street Bridge
Reports Bonnie Tang’s testimony about her son Nicholas and summarizes the committee’s discussion of barriers, netting, patrols, technology, and funding.
Source and access note
The official minutes support the paper’s account of the testimony. The meeting produced no final permanent-design recommendation.
Pasadena Now
July 16, 2025 · News report and City response
Ahead of Bridge Party, Pasadena Neighborhood Group Urges Action on Colorado Street Bridge Safety Barriers
Reports the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association’s call for a decision and Brent Maue’s response about internal mockup testing and anticipated summer and fall reviews.
Source and access note
The proposed review sequence was a forecast. The historical background incorrectly dates the Labor Day emergency to 2017 rather than 2018.
West Pasadena Residents’ Association
Winter 2026 · Sue Mossman commentary
Observe the three A’s and P’s for critical preservation issues
Sue Mossman places the lengthy barrier process alongside other unresolved Pasadena preservation projects.
Source and access note
Winter 2026 newsletter, page 8. This is a preservation perspective, not a City decision.
Earlier history and prevention efforts
Los Angeles Times
September 3, 1989 · Historical reporting
Fixing Bridges, Pasadena Restores Links to Past
Background on the bridge’s rehabilitation and the preservation choices that preceded the current barrier project.
Los Angeles Times
November 26, 1992 · Historical reporting
When Angels Saved Her
A retrospective account of a child’s survival in 1937 and the public response that followed.
Glendale News-Press / Los Angeles Times
June 21, 2013 · News report
Pasadena seeks to curb suicides at Colorado Street Bridge with messages of hope
Explains the earlier decision to install crisis signs and the discussion of their limits.
PBS SoCal
November 22, 2013 · Historical background
Colorado Street Bridge: The Birth of a Pasadena Landmark
Nathan Masters explains the earlier Scoville crossing, construction of the Colorado Street Bridge, its curved alignment, and the 1913 opening, with archival photographs and captions.
Source and access note
The article gives engineer Waddell’s first name as Joseph. The Library of Congress catalog identifies him as John Alexander Low Waddell.