The Mount Hope Bridge is a two-lane suspension bridge spanning the Mount Hope Bay in eastern Rhode Island at one of the narrowest gaps in Narragansett Bay. The bridge connects the Rhode Island towns of Portsmouth and Bristol and is part of Route 114. Its towers are tall, the length of the main span is , and it offers of clearance over high water. The total length of the bridge is . The railing along the bridge is only and since 2016 there is a dedicated coalition (Bridging the Gap for Safety & Healing) advocating for the installation of physical safety/suicide prevention barriers on Mount Hope Bridge (along with the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, Jamestown-Verrazzano and Sakonnet Bridge). History Before the bridge was built, a ferry operated between Bristol and Portsmouth. The 1855 Bristol Ferry Light still remains at the base of the bridge. The Mount Hope Bridge was originally proposed in 1920, and the New Hope Bridge Company was incorporated in 1927, after a few years of resistance from the Rhode Island General Assembly and with the influence of state senator and business leader William Henry Vanderbilt III. Construction began on December 1, 1927, using a design by Robinson & Steinman. Serious structural problems were discovered four months before it was to open, forcing the contractor to disassemble and reassemble portions of the bridge. On October 24, 1929, Vanderbilt gave the opening address at the dedication ceremony where a radio link was set up with Washington, D.C. The $5,000,000 bridge was opened to traffic and, five days later, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred. It was owned by the Mount Hope Bridge Company as a private toll bridge, with the initial toll costing 60 cents one way, and $1 for a round-trip. By 1931, the Bridge company went bankrupt, and prominent local brewer Rudolf F. Haffenreffer acquired the bridge in receivership. It remained the longest suspension bridge in New England for 40 years, until the Claiborne Pell Bridge opened a few miles to the south in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1971, the Mount Hope Bridge was considered for inclusion as part of the never-built Interstate 895. This plan would have required the construction of a parallel span, and the entire I-895 plan was eventually dropped due to community opposition throughout the projected route. The Mount Hope Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.