Local "Suicide" Bridge to Get Safety Fence

Major improvements planned for the Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown include wider lanes and an eight-foot-high fence on both sides.

The work on the structurally deficient bridge won't begin until 2014 and will take about two years to complete,

The fence, described by PennDOT as an added safety feature, will be attached to the bridge's outer wall four feet up and will curve in at the top, according to a WFMZ report.

Eighty people have jumped to their death from the bridge, which rises 138 feet over Little Lehigh Creek, according to the Morning Call.

The project to rehab the 99-year-old bridge will cost $27 million.

The bridge is formally known as the Albertus L. Meyers Bridge - named in honor of a well-known Allentown Band conductor who played cornet in the band of John Philip Sousa. The bridge was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1988.