Vent: New plastic bollards on Main St already smashed a week later

The city put in these flimsy plastic bollards on the new bike lane on Main Street in Portland about 3 weeks ago. Last Tuesday I rode by and saw 3 of them already snapped off at the base, just lying in the gutter. A delivery truck probably rolled right over them like they weren't even there. Cost the city like $200 each to install those things, total waste. Now cars are parking in the lane again every afternoon. Why do they even bother with this cheap junk instead of actual concrete barriers? Anyone else's city putting in fake protection that lasts a day?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel_martinez9212d ago

Focus on how those cheap bollards actually make it worse for cyclists. When a driver sees a smashed plastic bollard lying in the gutter, it tells them the city doesn't really care about protecting that bike lane. It gives them a green light to park there because the "protection" clearly failed. Concrete curbs or steel posts might cost more upfront but they actually force drivers to respect the lane, which saves money on enforcement later.

river_jones7d ago

Oh man, @daniel_martinez92 I gotta respectfully disagree here lol. Yeah those plastic bollards are junk, but I think concrete curbs would just piss off drivers more and lead to more road rage incidents. At least with the cheap ones, the city can swap them out fast instead of dealing with damaged cars and lawsuits.