Aurora Bridge

I like this bridge a lot more with the safety fence up and no more tragedy occurring here!

Views of the Cascade mountains to the east and views of the Olympic mountains to the west, and once in awhile Mount Rainier reveals itself. Even the suicide jumping prevention fence can’t distract you from the beautiful views. But if you’re the one in the driver’s seat, keep your eye on the road because it’s a narrow bridge for six lanes of traffic. Metro buses rarely can stay in their own lane. Know that when you’re passing over the northern most point of the bridge there is a gigantic car-​munching troll with beady eyes right underneath youZ

There are many reasons to love a bridge… Appreciation of the architecture… Recognition of the convenience it brings… Getting across it without falling… But the Aurora bridge stands apart in that it is one of the few bridges I’ve been on that puts so much trust in mankind. Have you driven in the left lane of the Aurora Bridge? Have you driven in the right lane? Let’s put it this way… I think the Aurora Bridge should be included in every driver’s license exam. If you survive, you get your license! Good game.

The outer lane is a tight squeeze and it’s going to bog down at the end for people exiting the highway.
The inner lane is usually the fastest, but I’m also pretty sure that it’s also the most likely to kill you instantly. On an average crossing, you will cross paths with nearly thirty cars in the oncoming lane. That’s thirty strangers you are trusting with your life. Still, at the time it seems worth the ten seconds saved.
40 mph is too slow for that stretch of road!

Locals know this as the Aurora Bridge but the George Washington Memorial Bridge is its proper name. It’s also known as the «Suicide Bridge» from all of the jumpers that’s made it their last stop. Herbert Hoover was present to open the bridge to the public and the auspicious ceremony was broadcasted all over the western United States!
This cantilever and truss bridge runs Aurora Avenue N. (SR-​99) over the west end of Lake Union between Queen Anne and Fremont, just east of the Fremont Cut. The bridge is nearly 3,000 feet long, six lanes wide and over 50 meters above the water.
I use it as the quick way into downtown when I don’t feel like messing with I-​5. And unless it’s rush hour proper, I find that it gets me south pretty quickly. There’s times I wish there were dividers in the centre. I imagine people not paying attention as they speed in their narrow lanes. It’s not the prettiest bridge when you’re on it but look up from the ground some time, it’s striking… just ask the Troll who guards it.
vf
I had jury duty one morning and sweet mother o

Good idea for the city to put fences up on the bridge. Usually busy during the morning drive and afternoon commutes. A couple thousand cars use the bridge every year. Be careful because there are extra patrols here. Security has been stepped up too.

Boy… I love and hate this bridge. What should I say about it? It’s sad that it has such a bad reputation and I’m glad security has been ramped up in recent years.
That said there are some good things about this bridge. Without it where would our beloved Fremont Troll live? And without it we’d have fewer routes connecting drivers from Queen Anne to Fremont and Beyond. It’s certainly quite narrow and it’s a bit of an eyesore but I guess it’s more important that it works properly, eh? So Aurora Bridge — you’re A-​OK in my book.

«Pleeeeease, Mom?»
«No.»
“Pretty please mom yourethebestmom pleasepleaseplease!”
«I said no.»
«But I HAVE TO!»
«You heard me, young man.»
«But all my friends are!»
«If all your friends were going to a Justin Bieber concert, would you want to do that too?»
«OK, OK. You’re right.»

The only real reason for me to write a review about this bridge is the neat Fremont Troll that lurks underneath it.
The website
describes it best:
The Fremont troll took up residence under the north end of the Aurora bridge on Halloween 1990, and hasn’t left since. He was sculpted by four Seattle area artists — Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead — for the Fremont Arts Council. The head-​and-​shoulders sculpture is 18-​ft. tall.
The shaggy haired troll glares southward with his shiny metal eye — a hubcap? In his left hand, he crushes an old style Volkswagen beetle (which originally contained a time capsule of Elvis memorabilia; removed after the car was vandalized and the California license plate was stolen). There are plenty of places to pose, and interaction with the troll is encouraged.
Troll.
The community pays tribute to the troll every October 31^st with a mobile «Trollaween» party, starting under the bridge and wandering to other funky art sites and events in Fremont. Of which there are plenty: Fremont is also home to the Largest Lenin statue in the US.
The troll achieved more notoriety in 1998 when the a man shot a bus driver and ran the bus off the Aurora bridge, crashing on top of an apartment building. The building is adjacent to the troll, and was reported to get as much attention — for a while you could still see evidence of the impact.
I have attached photos of this neat concrete monster under the end of the bridge. If you are looking for this «landmark», just head towards the Fremont Library and look for Troll Ave.

Please please PLEASE hurry up with the construction! 1 lane is not enough even at midnight on a weekday! Got stuck behind some granny on my way home last night! Aaaarrrrrggghhhhh!!!

Suicide barriers are going up over the next 8 months to the tune of over $ 5M.
I know there are many of you who believe this to be a waste of taxpayer dollars, that people will just plan to end their lives via other means, and that may be true (though I have heard emperical data exists that confirms barriers such as these have lowered overall rates in other cities). However, if these barriers stop bodies from falling on to the front porches of houesboat owners, or onto the running trail below the bridge, or 36^th Ave N, or if there are fewer floaters in the canal as the Ice Cream Cruise filled with kids passes through — then it’s worth it. Guns, pills, nooses, carbon monoxide, etc… are generally more private suicides — and don’t cost nearly the same number of taxpayer dollars to clean up. And really, if the barriers save 10% of the lives that would have been lost without them, doesn’t that make them worth it too?
So 5 stars for the barriers and everyone who worked to get them in place. Thank you.
(FYI — This review is not funny.)

Small lanes which aren’t to bad in good weather but can be kinda scary in bad. Living in Fremont I pretty much get to avoid crossing the bridge for the most part.
It is a nice view to look at and from.
I hate it because it partially blocked my view of the 4^th of July fireworks but love it because the Fremont Troll is beneath it.

The things that I like about this bridge (my view of it, my view from it) are overshadowed by the crappiness of driving on it. I just don’t do it if I can find another way to go at all. The lanes are too narrow and it freaks me the eff out. I drive a small car yet if I’m in the right lane I feel like I’m about to hit the pedestrian barrier and if I’m in the far left lane I feel like I’m about to hit oncoming traffic.
Remember during the snowpocalypse, how some of the lane markers disappeared on the northbound bridge and so suddenly there were 2 wide glorious lanes instead of 3 hell-​inspiring ones? Yeah me too. THOSE were the days. Bring on more snow!

I use this bridge often to get ot my work. I applaud the safe driving of so many with such narrow lanes.
I have grief for the many who have been so lost in whatever way that they had to end their lives jumping from this bridge.

Putting up netting or fences isn’t going to save lives.
It’s just going to increase the number of gun, pill, carbon monoxide, and noose related suicides.
And those don’t sell TV commercials on KING5 during the evening news.
Don’t fuck with the economy, people. It’s already shaky.

One of my favorite Seattle landmarks. The «Suicide Bridge» definitely has a reputation.
Yes, I have a morbid fascination with this bridge. I have ever since we moved here. It was constructed in 1932 and even before it was completed a distraught shoe salesman jumped off the uncompleted bridge. Since then, it’s only second to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge for suicides. About four to nine people jump from this bridge a year and over the bridge’s lifetime about 230 people have jumped from it’s pedestrian walkway.
Not everyone that jumps lands in the water. The parking lots of what were once warehouses and are now dot com office buildings, are sadly the front row seats to several suicides. There are plenty of stories about workers finding bodies and even one where a jumper hit a person’s car.
Then there are the people that don’t die. The rare few that end up with severe life-​altering injuries and a new outlook on life.
Driving on the bridge reminds of the infamous «suicide lanes» in Tucson, AZ. They were so close to the oncoming cars and everyone drives on it like a bat out of hell. You never want to be next to a bus on here.
I always found one of the most romantic parts about this bridge is that the Fremont Troll lurks under it too.
And I’m all for the suicide phones on the bridge, but preserve the beauty of the bridge and don’t add the suicide prevention net. It doesn’t fix the real problem.

Interesting bit o’ info:
This is actually the George Washington Bridge.
When I used to work in North Seattle and commuted across the GWB (hee) every day I would be subconciously terrified that someone would cross the center line and drive head-​on into my car.
I still drove in the left-​most lane anyway. I like to live on the edge.

The Aurora Bridge is the greatest bridge in Seattle, if not the Northwest. It’s the ONLY road in this town where EVERYONE hauls ass over it and the bonus is that the cops have a very difficult time camping out to get you on the radar.
And, if you ever want to check out and you’ve just had it, you can do it to it, right here. This is sarcasm, don’t get bent.

A great place for a jumping off point to the here after… not say’n I’m into that, just a FYI…

In and of itself, the Aurora Bridge, which connects Queen Anne to Wallingford and Fremont, doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special. Concrete, steel, paved, elevated. It wasn’t until I crossed it on foot on Christmas Day 2005 that I found an appreciation for it.
Deceptively tall, spanning both land and water, the Aurora Bridge is unnerving and exhilarating both. There is an amazing view to be had from the middle of the span, with the Cascades far to the east, the Olympics far to the west, a long finger of the Puget Sound below, and sky stretched above. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more expansive place to stand and appreciate the beauty of Seattle and its cradle.
For me, the waist-​high wall separating pedestrians from short-​lived aerial showmen served to remind just how thin the margins can be between life and the absence of it. Indeed, the so-​called «Jumpers’ Bridge» is deserving of its title. As I reached the Queen Anne end of the bridge, a single piece of faded and wind-​torn 8 ½″ by 11″ printer paper was taped to the railing. On it was the name of a 38 year old man, Victor A. Mitchell, his birth date, the date of November 5^th, 2004, and the promise that he now slept in the arms of God. Leaning over the railing from that place and looking down to the concrete parking lot far below was strange.
The Aurora Bridge would be a perfect conduit for quiet contemplation, if not for the steady stream of cars flying noisily by. A clear and moonlit midnight hour would be an excellent time to cross. Or indeed, perhaps, Christmas Morning, when most automobiles are resting idly, the streets are quiet, and your own crystallized breaths dance in front of your face.