Barbed wire is going up on the beautiful but dangerous Natchez Trace Bridge

The National Park Service is installing chain-link fencing on the Natchez Trace Double Arch Bridge in Williamson County, meant as a temporary solution to thwart suicide attempts. Work began this week.

It’s taken nearly four years for advocates to get to this point where fencing of any kind is going up, even after $1.2 million was approved for the project and a contract finalized last year. The interim step is supposed to save lives while the process for a permanent solution plays out.

There is a thicket of considerations — weight, wind and what it looks like. And the bridge, which spans nearly a third of a mile, is federal property. So the process is lengthy. And the permanent fencing shouldn’t obstruct the view as much.

“We really, at the end of the day, don’t have a stake in what it looks like,” says Trish Merelo, whose son was a senior at Brentwood High School when he jumped to his death in 2016. She then co-founded the Natchez Trace Bridge Barrier Coalition. “A temporary barrier of any kind will do the job.”

By Merelo’s count, 42 people have died since the bridge was built in 1994. In 2019, the Tennessee legislature declared “a suicidal health crisis” at the site. Disturbing bodycam footage from law enforcement obtained by the Nashville Banner shows just how impulsive some of the decisions are.

Even though the iconic span rises 155 feet above Highway 96 below, the railing is less than three feet high — 32 inches. The National Park Service says the barrier was intended to protect drivers, not pedestrians. The NPS has also installed solar-powered phones that can call 911 or a suicide crisis hotline at each end of the bridge.

The federal government is still receiving input (here) on three design proposals for permanent barriers. Construction wouldn’t begin until at least 2024. If the process falls apart, the temporary barbed wire fencing could become permanent.

“We are asking community members and park visitors to provide feedback on the barrier project, which includes designs that not only match the aesthetics of the bridge, but also have a lasting impact on public health and visitor safety,” Parkway superintendent Douglas Neighbor said in a statement.

The feedback window closes June 17.

If you know someone in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).