During the T-Virus outbreak, the Bridge was the only hope of escape for most of the populace.
The Raven's Gate Bridge was the central thoroughfare into and out of Raccoon City. It was for this reason that, as the T-Virus overtook the city, Major Timothy Cain of the Umbrella Corporation placed the only checkpoint to allow uninfected citizens out of the city there.
It was the site of a skirmish between the Corporation's armed guards and the terrified citizens when an infected man reached the fortified gate, and Cain ordered the checkpoint sealed. To get people away from the gate, the guards fired their rifles into the air as a scare tactic, and the crowd subsequently dispersed and reluctantly returned to the city.