Leaside Bridge is finally getting a safety barrier, with city council telling staff to immediately install temporary protective measures until the permanent barrier is in place.
Council not onlyÌýÌýof fast-tracking the barrier on Thursday, but authorized senior city officials to negotiate andÌýaward a contract to RV Anderson Associates Limited “on a non-competitive basis” for the barrier’s design — which they also decided would be angled steel frames with mesh.
Harold Lusthouse, 76, died in June last year when a person fell from the bridge, landing on the car Lusthouse was a passenger in, killing both people. Earlier this month, his son and daughter made an emotional plea to the city’sÌýexecutiveÌýcommittee to install safety barriers on the bridge — and do it fast.
“When you hear a story like this, you know that we must act,” Coun. James Pasternak told council on Thursday. “It was one of the most heartbreaking deputations (at committee) you can hear.”
Tali Uditsky and Landon Lusthouse, the children of Harold Lusthouse, gave an emotional presentation about the death of their father at city hall on April 9. The 76-year-old was killed when a person fell from the Leaside Bridge last year, landing on his car.
The Leaside Bridge, also known as the Millwood Overpass Bridge, carries Millwood Road over the Don Valley Parkway, Don River and GO Transit Bala Subdivision railway.
City staff said the final cost for the Leaside Bridge barrier will depend on whether the bridge needs structural work to strengthen its foundation so it can carry the new barrier. “However, the cost will likely be no less than the cost of the barrier on the Bloor (Viaduct),” a spokesperson said in an email.
Years of advocacy pushed city councilÌýto install a $5.5-million barrier at the Bloor Viaduct — secondÌýin North America only to the Golden Gate Bridge in the number of suicides each year — in 2003, reducing suicides from 48 in five years before the barrier to two in 17 years as of 2020.
In 2018, the city beganÌýreviewing the feasibility of safety barriers on other such bridges as part of the city’s state-of-good-repair, decade-long bridge rehabilitation project. City staff said Thursday that Leaside was not a part of that program.
Though the city identified the Leaside Bridge as another “high-risk location for suicide” in the report to executive committee, it was Pasternak’sÌýmotion last year following Lusthouse’s death that sparked the move to add a barrier toÌýthe bridge.
Coun. Paula Fletcher said at council Thursday there are many reasons to fast track a Leaside Bridge safety barrier. Not only is it a “terrible tragedy” for families, there is also a human cost for the city’s first responders who attend these calls and bridge jumps means closing the highway for hours, she said.
“Get at it. Get it started. Get it done. Save lives. Case closed,” Fletcher told council.Ìý
Lusthouse’s son Landon cannot fathom why the Leaside Bridge didn’t get a barrier in 2004 when it was last upgraded, given the Bloor Viaduct got one the year before, nor why it’s taken so long to get to this point.
Harold Lusthouse’s daughter and son made an emotional plea at city hall for safety barriers to be installed on Leaside Bridge.
Harold Lusthouse’s daughter and son made an emotional plea at city hall for safety barriers to be installed on Leaside Bridge.
“I feel like the city’s really dropped the ball,”ÌýLandon told the Star earlier this month. “It’s just such a no-brainer.”
Ìýthat barriers are an effective deterrence. They also don’t redirect individuals to other bridges, a common misconception.
According to º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøpolice data, the number of suicides at Leaside Bridge rivalled those at the Bloor Viaduct as recently as 2022 but slightly decreased the following year.Ìý
However, as of 2023, the police service started logging distress call data differently. Now, it categorizes everything — suicide, attempted suicide, person in crisis, sudden death and threatening suicide — under “person in crisis.”
In 2023, there were 17 such calls to police within 50 metres of the Leaside Bridge, according to a police spokesperson. In 2024, there were nine calls. So far in 2025, there has been one distress call.
If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at or . You can also connect 24 hours a day to the national Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8 (text or call), the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøDistress Centres at 416-408-4357. The 24/7 º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøCommunity Crisis Service is also now providing support citywide and can be reached by calling 2-1-1.
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