An item in the January 2017 Pedal Update urged anyone hurt by bollards to sue the relevant council, and particularly ACC. This created ‘disappointment’ at ACC. Our response to their email expressing this can be found here. It points out that few (if any) bollards installed in the last 20 years have met the standards ACC is legally obliged to comply with.
ACC said it’s going to undertake an audit of Park Lands paths soon (its third so far). So to help them out, show us a bollard located on an ACC path that complies with the Australian Guide to Road Design Part 6A: Pedestrian and Cyclist Paths (“GRD6A”), and win a Haigh’s chocolate frog – Midi size! (125g).
GRD6A actually says not to install bollards unless a proven car access problem exists, so we’ll ignore this clause to give you a fighting chance. Other conditions: we need a pic and a rough description of the location emailed to chair@bisa.asn.au before the April Pedal Update is drafted (17 April).
The offer is limited to three frogs, in case there is actually a compliant bollard out there!
Also send your most-hated bollards in any council area and a) if we don’t find a compliant bollard in ACC, we’ll give the chocs to the bollards the Committee thinks are the worst; and b) we’ll forward these to the relevant authority (and then start hassling them).
As a final note, Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads does not support the use of bollards for either of the purposes GRD6A would (reluctantly) allow them i.e. reducing cyclist speed and limiting vehicle access. Its Supplement to GRD6A is something that, currently, we can only salivate over.
GRD6A guideline summary
| Physical characteristics | Location |
|---|---|
| White or yellow in colour | Not in a cyclist manoeuvring zone, at/near curves or within 5m of a kerb ramp |
| Rounded (no sharp edges); if the path is 4m or wider, a U-frame with hazard board can be used instead | |
| Minimum diameter 100mm (if located centrally in a path) or 300m (if located at the end of a path) | Not within 5m-10m of a road (so braking and storage can occur) |
| Retro-reflective tape wrapped around the entire bollard; adequately illuminated | At least 1.4m from adjacent fixtures; 1.6m max if used to stop vehicle access |
| Be preceded by tactile line-marking where cyclists need to change their travel line | Not mid-block where speeds would exceed 20km/h (e.g. downhill) |
| At least 1.0m high; 1.8m high for a 100mm diameter bollard | Have adequate run-off space in the event that a cyclist fails to negotiate it successfully |
| Desirably, bollards should be designed/ located so a following cyclist can see the bollard past a leading cyclist | |
| NB Holding rails should not be located centrally in a path due to their narrow 50mm tubing, nor at intersections with minor streets, and only installed at the request of users; other guidelines apply. |
Bollard location: Frome Road and Victoria Drive
when viewed head one they are extremely hard to see, hollow in the middle.
refector is only in the center and gives a false indication on their size
leading is incredibly sharp for a bollard
matt rust colour is light absorbing and difficult to see in low light conditions.
reflector can only be view head on which makes it impossible to see as youre traveling down the Frome St bike path.
Earlier this year, a bollard (not in the CBD) caught my gear cable and brought my bike and myself to a crashing halt. Thankfully, I was only going slowly at the time. So I’m no fan of these bollards.
The bollard I hate most in the parklands is the one on the shared path from Port Road to the cricket club, not too far from the new hospital. I don’t know if it is compliant or not, but I hate it.
Road crossings on the Nuriootpa-Angaston rail trail.
Each road crossing has a pair of U-frames offset from each other blocking the entire path. The chevron infills are relatively recent and will improve teh visibility, but they still fail several of the other points such as tactile advance warnings and distance from adjacent fixtures. Even just painting the direction arrow after the barrier instead of pointing into it could help!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.5028882,139.0231075,3a,75y,248h,89.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU1PqHvXLuYg06YqtuRdhjw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.4952159,139.0129971,3a,75y,161.92h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s41dJemkkZh38-4JoMN0qOA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.4952309,139.0129362,3a,75y,314.75h,84.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0o_6_kssY789OjRwh_kFRQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.4845163,139.0041881,3a,75y,158.83h,84.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6g3fOsOmg6fTTwT3j6IG1Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
East Avenue at Edinburgh has been closed to through traffic and has two fences across it, but there are gaps for cyclists and pedestrians and it is a route offered by the Cycle Instead website. The gaps between the posts are quite narrow and neither the posts nor the fence are easy to spot in twilight or darkness.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.715792,138.6503413,3a,75y,10.89h,83.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shlsK2NOLY6hpF3myA0YnKA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Permanent bollards intended for traffic-control purposes may be mounted near enough to each other that they block ordinary cars, for instance, but spaced widely enough to permit special-purpose vehicles and bicycles to pass through.