Seacoast Online – May 5, 2025
By IAN LENAHAN
PORTSMOUTH — Area mental health leaders are helping bring suicide prevention signage to the Piscataqua River Bridge this year and will advocate for suicide barriers to be installed on the three bridges connecting New Hampshire and Maine. A string of emergency responses at the high-level Interstate 95 bridge and the neighboring Sarah Mildred Long Bridge occurred last Wednesday and Thursday.
One man died by suicide after he leapt from the Piscataqua River Bridge Wednesday night. A second unidentified person remains missing after jumping from the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge less than two hours afterward, according to Portsmouth police. Then, Thursday afternoon, authorities responded again to the Piscataqua River Bridge and safely helped a teenager off the bridge who climbed onto the catwalk of the massive structure.
The Piscataqua River Bridge is the tallest of the three bridges in Portsmouth and is part of the I-95 corridor connecting Kittery to Portsmouth.
Jennifer Lane, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, said there are no plans in motion to add suicide barriers to the Piscataqua River Bridge, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge or the Memorial Bridge. Seacoast Mental Health Center officials were already coordinating with New Hampshire and Maine agencies to install suicide prevention signs on the Piscataqua River Bridge prior to the three incidents. The signage would include the national 988 suicide lifeline number with words of encouragement for anyone struggling.
“Certainly we’ve heard stories from people living in the community who have driven over the (Piscataqua River Bridge) at times and have thought about it,” said Dennis Walker, vice president of clinical operations at Seacoast Mental Health Center. “We know from other specific signage that people have that they see the signs, realize there are options and know they’re not alone.” The idea was brought to the Seacoast Mental Health Center by Portsmouth Police Department Det. Rochelle Jones. Three years ago, in May 2022, Jones, a crisis negotiator for Seacoast Emergency Response Team, talked a man off the edge of the Piscataqua River Bridge, saving his life.
The signs have yet to be installed and no specific timeline is in place to add them, said Kelly Hartnett, Seacoast Mental Health Center’s vice president of community relations. The community mental health center, located along Sagamore Creek in Portsmouth, is working with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, the New Hampshire Department of Safety and the Maine Department of Transportation on the signage project. “It’s unfortunate that events like this prompt actions, but I think if we can prevent this from happening again, that’s the ultimate goal,” Hartnett said.
Three local bridge incidents, including two death by suicide attempts, last week
Last week, in a less than 24-hour span, local and state authorities responded three times to separate incidents that occurred on two of the three bridges connecting Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine. A man fatally jumped from the Piscataqua River Bridge just after 7 p.m. last Wednesday, resulting in responders pulling him from the river and attempting life-saving measures that were ultimately unsuccessful.
Later that night, Portsmouth police took a report for a missing person, only to learn in the morning, through video footage provided by the DOT, that the person in question jumped from the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge just before 9 p.m. the night before. That second person has yet to be located by New Hampshire Marine Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard or police.
A third police response followed Thursday afternoon when a teenager from Eliot climbed onto the catwalk of the Piscataqua River Bridge just after 4:30 p.m. Multiple 911 calls prompted Maine and New Hampshire law enforcement to come to the scene, where they safely coaxed him off the bridge, and transported him to the Kittery police station, according to Maine State Police.
“A juvenile male from Eliot had ridden his bicycle to the bridge and wanted to walk on the catwalk. It was determined that he was not suicidal after he was interviewed. He was trespassed from the turnpike and turned over to his father,” said Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss. Several tragic and dangerous incidents occurred on the Piscataqua River Bridge last year, the majority of which were tied to mental health crises.
In May, a deceased man’s body was located in the river in Newington after he jumped from the Portsmouth side of the high-level structure days before. A Troy, New Hampshire man, believed by investigators to have killed his wife and their son that August morning, died by suicide on the bridge and was fired at by Maine and New Hampshire state troopers after an hours-long standoff during the incident. Later, in October, a man jumped from the structure and was rescued alive from the river. Only days before, police safely helped a non-suicidal man to safety after using thermal imaging to see him climbing a ladder on the bridge. A man in distress was talked down off the Piscataqua River Bridge by law enforcement in early December. Days later, a Biddeford Police Department veteran and Portsmouth resident died in a car crash on the bridge.
NH DOT: Fencing on I-95 bridge could be a hazard
The larger vision shared by Hartnett and Walker is to advocate for the installation of barriers on the three local bridges, specifically on the Piscataqua River Bridge, to prevent future deaths by suicide or catastrophic injury. Lane said adding a fence to the high-level, however, could create issues for motorists on the I-95 bridge. “The existing concrete guardrail was recently constructed as part of a $60 million preservation project on the (Piscataqua River Bridge). This guardrail is more difficult to scale or climb than the previous guardrail system. Screening was added to the structural members to address security concerns,” Lane said. “The shoulder lanes of the bridge are part of a dynamic part-time shoulder use lane that opens up as a full travel lane during heavy traffic flows. Adding fencing to the existing guardrail system could potentially introduce potential hazards to traffic if impacted.”
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation jointly manages the three bridges with the Maine Department of Transportation. Costs of a project to add suicide barrier systems to bridges are frequently cited as potential roadblocks. “Fencing on other bridges in the state (is) typically to prevent plowed snow from falling onto traffic below or is installed on bridges with sidewalks depending on the rail system,” Lane added. “As part of a limited access interstate highway, the Piscataqua River Bridge does not carry any pedestrian facilities. Access ladders on the bridge have gates with locks to deter access from non-authorized individuals.” The Memorial Bridge and the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge have locked gates and doors to prevent unauthorized access, according to Lane.
Golden Gate Bridge death by suicide attempts decreased after net installation
In California, a stainless steel net has been added to the east and west sides of the entire 1.7-mile-long Golden Gate Bridge to deter anyone from attempting to die by suicide. The barrier was installed 20 feet beneath the sidewalks on the iconic bridge and juts 20 feet out over the strait. While seen as a suicide prevention tactic, the net could also cause serious injury. Fewer deaths by suicide have occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge since the barrier was put in place, according to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District.
“The net is working as intended to save lives and deter people from coming to the Bridge to harm themselves. Over the last 20 years, on average, there were 30 confirmed suicides at the Bridge every year. In 2024, one year after the net was completed, there were eight suicides at the Bridge, reducing the annual number of suicides by 73%,” the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District reports. “Attempts have also declined since the net was completed. In a typical year before the net, our staff would successfully intervene with up to 200 individuals at the Bridge. In 2024, our staff performed 132 successful interventions.” The net cost approximately $224 million. It took six years to install, beginning in 2018. Seacoast Mental Health Center leaders point to the Golden Gate Bridge as a model for how similar systems could be implemented locally down the road. “Barriers do help save lives in conjunction with signs,” Hartnett said. “It’s a definite life-saver,” Walker added.
NAMI NH: Give others hope and be willing to have difficult discussions
The first step to preventing death by suicide is to talk about it, says Susan Stearns, executive director of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
In 2024, there were over 46,000 calls, text and chat messages with New Hampshire’s rapid response system and over 7,000 mobile crisis team deployments, according to Stearns.
The head of NAMI New Hampshire called for investment in community mental health centers and substance abuse services statewide as part of the macro effort to prevent deaths by suicide. On an individual level, she said people need to check on their loved ones, ask hard questions and refer to mental health organizations and resources in times of need. “Frankly every one of us is probably one crisis away in our lives from needing to use these services. It really cuts across all parts of our society. It’s part of the human condition,” Stearns said.
Stearns supports suicide prevention signage and the installation of barriers for the three bridges connecting New Hampshire to Maine. She suggested that phones could possibly be added onto the bridges in the future in the event a person is experiencing a mental health crisis, as they may not have a cellular device or have it powered on. Incidents like those that occurred last week rattle not only a victim’s loved ones, but the communities they come from and where they occur, Stearns said. “We have to recognize they have a profound impact across communities. New Hampshire communities are tight-knit,” she said. “That effect can go on for some time. We need to look out for each other.”
Immediate signs a person may be suicidal include when they express hopelessness or worthlessness, feeling like they’re trapped or that they’re a burden, not wanting to live or “wake up in the morning,” according to Walker. He hopes New Hampshire residents support the state legislature restoring Medicaid funding that’s proposed to be cut, which would impact community mental health center patients around the state and lead to providers potentially cutting jobs due to a loss of revenue. “Your heart goes out to the families and communities impacted by the losses and these events,” Walker said in a response to the bridge incidents last week. “It does become concerning for us as clinicians when we see these numbers increase and that there will potentially be others. It’s time for the community to make sure that everybody’s looking out for one another and ask the kinds of questions you need to ask in these situations.” “Helping someone hold onto hope is truly a gift,” added Stearns. “It’s something every one of us is able to do and most of us do without realizing.”