The University won the Ithaca Common Council’s approval to construct suicide nets under three city-owned bridges at a council meeting Wednesday night, clearing a major hurdle in its push to eradicate jumping deaths from Ithaca’s iconic gorge sites.

Updated: The father of Bradley Ginsburg '13, who died in Fall Creek Gorge in 2010 after jumping from the Thurston Avenue Bridge, filed a lawsuit against the University, the City of Ithaca and several administrators earlier this week.

Cornell is awaiting approval from the Ithaca Planning and Development Board for a recently revised proposal for means restriction on seven bridges on and off campus. The revisions aimed to minimize the visibility of the nets and make the areas where the bridges meet the gorges safer.

A recent report conducted by an undergraduate communications class found that 42.2 percent of students support the permanent safety structures on campus bridges, 43.6 percent oppose them and 14.1 percent neither support nor oppose them.