Akron’s All-America Bridge, also called the Y Bridge, was once known to many by a more ominous name — the Suicide Bridge. That changed when an 8-feet non-climbable “vandal” fence was completed in 2011 to deter suicides that affected not only the families and friends of victims but also people who lived, worked and played in the valley below.
The fence — now leaching rust into the concrete — will be replaced by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in collaboration with the City of Akron as part of a $5.3 million improvement project.
On Jan. 13, Akron City Council approved funds to ensure the fence remains at its current 8-feet height.
If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Chris Ludle, the City of Akron service director, said the city’s share will be $288,000. It funds the difference between ODOT’s standard 6-feet fence and the need to keep the fence at 8 feet.
ODOT spokesperson Ramon Marsch explained via email, “Crews will perform various pavement and bridge repairs to the State Route 261 All-American Bridge.”
“The current vandal fence will be removed and replaced and there will be a safety net installed under the bridge to catch any possible falling debris.”
A vandal fence is not easily climbable and is intended to prevent heavy objects from being thrown from a bridge.
Marsch said the work is expected to begin this summer and should be completed in November. At least one lane of traffic in each direction will remain open on the bridge throughout the project.
Ward 7 Council Member Donny Kammer, who chairs Akron City Council’s Public Service Committee, said the All-America Bridge was vital to Akron, “connecting downtown with the northern neighborhoods of the city. A lot of people drive over it each day.”
Kammer added the fence not only acts as a deterrent for possible suicides but also provides a sense of security for pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the bridge.
Memories of the bridge evoke powerful stories
At its highest point, traffic on the bridge passes more than a hundred feet above the Little Cuyahoga River, Elizabeth Park, homes, churches, businesses and streets.
Rev. Michael Anthony Howard, Minister of Faith in Action for Northeast Ohio’s United Church of Christ congregations (a mainline Protestant denomination), recently purchased a home on Charles Street bordering the bridge. It is in the Elizabeth Park neighborhood, which, he said, he has come to love since first engaging in community projects there five years ago.
The bridge, like the neighborhood below it, has a powerful story, Howard explained. “When it was first the Viaduct with an African American community below it, and with the bridge as high as it was, it became a destination place for people who were [taking their own lives].”
“It got a big, heavy reputation. When they replaced the Viaduct to put the Y Bridge, the suicides didn’t stop.”
It took almost 30 years — from 1982, when the bridge was completed, to December 2011 — for the fence to be fully installed. But the project was not without controversy.
The New York Times reported in 2009 that some questioned the fence’s cost, the use of federal stimulus funds to pay for it and the impact of the fence on views of the scenic valley below. Some claimed it would not prevent suicides and questioned whether the money would be better spent on mental health and community resources.
That is how Dana Starvaggi felt at first. A close school friend of hers, Kevin Conley, died by suicide from the bridge in 2006, aged 20.
“To me a fence at the time wasn’t nearly enough,” she recalled. “I wanted to show people what they could do, not just what not to do. The older I get, the more I see the value of the fence.”
A proponent of investing the funds in community projects to help individuals struggling with mental health and depression, Starvaggi’s perspective shifted when she read A Temporary Moment, a book by Kevin’s mother, Carolyn Conley.
Starvaggi said Conley convinced her that, “… if you’re walking across that bridge feeling suicidal, in that moment that bridge made it way too easy.” A fence could deter someone long enough to get the help they need.
Starvaggi, a mother of three who teaches at North High School, said the fence and investment in mental health resources are two sides of the same coin. As a way of drawing community together and memorializing the lives lost, she contributed to the development of a community garden in Elizabeth Park beneath the bridge.
DISCOVERED by DOCUMENTERS
This story began with information in a note taken by Akron Documenter Christina Brunson at the Jan. 13 Akron City Council meeting. The Documenters program trains and pays everyday residents to observe and share information from government meetings. Learn more about how to become an Akron Documenter here.