The Coronado Bridge has been a defining landmark since its creation in 1969, arching over San Diego Bay to connect Coronado with San Diego. Over the decades, however, it has also become part of a tragic statistic: more than 500 people have died after jumping from the bridge, a toll second only to San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Bridge in the number of recorded suicides in California.<\/p>\n
That grim history is widely known not only in Coronado but across the state and beyond. For longtime resident Wayne Strickland, it became a call to action. Strickland joined the Coronado Fire Department (CFD) in 1967, just before the bridge opened, and soon began responding to the deaths that followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had seen all these different suicides, and I wanted to do something about it,\u201d Strickland recalled of his early days with the CFD. \u201cWhen I was on the fire department, Harbor Police used to bring them over the boat ramp, and I used to do CPR on people when I was on duty when that happened. I didn\u2019t save any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, after years of advocacy, a long-sought suicide prevention net on the Coronado Bridge is finally moving forward, with visible construction expected to begin in October, according to Strickland.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now it\u2019s supposed to be happening, the construction that you\u2019ll be able to see, in October,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of stuff being done that you can\u2019t see, and Caltrans is also going to give an update to the Coronado Rotary in October about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strickland has pressed for safety upgrades on the bridge for years. His involvement stems not only from the suicides he witnessed as a firefighter but also from a crash that shook him deeply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that pickup truck went over the side, I went and talked to Senator Ben Hueso myself,\u201d he said. The Senator, he recalled, \u201cwent ahead and created Senate Bill 656, which mandated Caltrans to do something for suicide prevention on the bridge\u2026 At that time, Caltrans, they just weren\u2019t doing anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hueso\u2019s Coronado Bridge Suicide Prevention Initiative (Senate Bill 656) was signed into law on May 7, 2019. The urgency measure created a task force to oversee and fast-track the design and construction of a permanent barrier along the bridge. Even as the process moved forward, Strickland continued to raise awareness and keep the issue in public view.<\/p>\n
That same year, four-inch metal spikes were installed along the bridge railing. They proved ineffective, however, and did not deter people from jumping.<\/p>\n
During the planning phase, Strickland argued against a horizontal-style net similar to the one being built at the Golden Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe horizontal that they\u2019re doing at the Golden Gate is not a very good option, because somebody still has to be rescued, and the bridge still has to be closed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would still back up all the traffic for the military base and all the people that have to get in and out of Coronado. It\u2019s just not a good option.\u201d<\/p>\n
After studying several suicide-prevention alternatives, Caltrans determined that a vertical cantilevered net would be the best solution. The barrier will stand more than 10 feet high and be virtually unclimbable. While some Coronado residents have worried that any barrier would ruin the sweeping views from the bridge, the proposed net is designed to be transparent.<\/p>\n
Strickland said the design will be \u201cnot climbable for 99.99% of people,\u201d adding that \u201cit will save lives.\u201d Though the effort has taken years, the California Department of Transportation finally awarded a contract for the $140 million project earlier this year, moving the work into its next phase. The contract went to Myers and Traylor Joint Venture, a partnership between Myers & Sons Construction and heavy-civil contractor Traylor Bros. Inc.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Strickland believes the bridge should have been made safer from the start. \u201cWe could have put a fence up in the beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the beginning, there was no center divider on the bridge. There were no lights on the bridge. So, you know, it was upgraded, and it\u2019s just too bad that there\u2019s been more than 500 deaths because they didn\u2019t do this at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Strickland, the project also underscores the power of citizen advocacy. \u201cIt always takes citizens to actually put forth the action to get these government agencies responsive, and get something done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Officials, he added, have warned the community to expect a lengthy construction timeline. Caltrans wants \u201cto put a site area off the bottom of the bridge so that they can do maintenance\u2026 They say it could take almost two years,\u201d Strickland said.<\/p>\n
Once work begins, most of the construction will take place at night, a schedule Strickland hopes will also help deter potential jumpers while the project is underway.<\/p>\n
According to Strickland, the problem has been both persistent and largely invisible to the public. \u201cEvery year there\u2019s between 12 and 18 people that jump off the bridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThey (the public) don\u2019t hear about it because nobody advertises that kind of stuff. We only know when the bridge is closed, and it used to be closed because people would think about it, sit on the edge. Now, it\u2019s just an abandoned car; it gets towed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Strickland, the coming net is closely tied to the mission he carried throughout his firefighting career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really going to happen, and it is really going to save lives. That\u2019s what firefighters are all about \u2014 saving lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
VOL. 116, NO. 29 – July 22, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Coronado Bridge has been a defining landmark since its creation in 1969, arching over San Diego Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3211,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-414122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-coronado_island_news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}