What are Traffic Safety Bollards and How Do They Improve Road Safety?

Traffic safety bollards are posts designed to create physical and visual barriers to direct or restrict vehicle access. They are used to protect buildings, public spaces, and pedestrians from car ramming attacks or accidental collisions. These barriers can also separate lanes or directions of traffic and line roadways while allowing pedestrians to pass unimpeded.

Applications of Traffic Control Bollards

Traffic management is crucial in areas with high amounts of both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, especially in high-use and crash-sensitive areas. Bollards can be installed around streets, parking lots, parks, hospitals, hotels, school campuses, and more. They complement many traffic calming strategies to increase pedestrian and neighborhood safety. Flexible bollards are ideal for high-traffic environments, as they minimize vehicle damage in case of collision.

Quality Bollard Design

Traffic bollards are made from high-quality materials to ensure long-term use with low maintenance. They come in various styles from simple to ornate, suitable for any public or private outdoor environment. Custom colors can also be added to increase visibility.

Prevent Vehicle Access

Bollards are designed to restrict vehicle access to certain areas, such as sidewalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian zones. Rigid and sturdy bollards that are properly anchored make it very difficult for vehicles to bypass the barrier and enter restricted areas, thus protecting pedestrians and cyclists. Bollards create a clear visual division between vehicle zones and pedestrian zones.

Safety in Parking Areas

In parking garages, bollards placed at the end of parking stalls help absorb impact from vehicles, protecting both columns and pedestrians. In parallel parking situations along busy streets, bollards protect buildings, street signs, benches, and other objects on sidewalks from being hit by drivers. Sturdy bollards made from reinforced steel or concrete withstand regular bumps and scrapes from parking maneuvers.

Security and Access Control

Bollards play an important role in security, enabling access control at sensitive facilities. Retractable or removable bollards can allow authorized vehicle entry at checkpoints while denying entry to unauthorized vehicles. Bollards are built to withstand extreme impact and can be augmented with hydraulic barriers, guard booths, gates, and tire shredders as part of a layered security strategy. They provide a critical layer of protection against vehicle attacks.

Reduce Speeding

Bollards placed at intervals along roadways act as physical impediments that force drivers to slow down. Curving alignments of bollards work better than straight lines for slowing speeds. The spacing between bollards can be tailored to control speeds on different sections of road.

Guide Traffic Flow

Strategically placed bollards allow planners to physically guide the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Bollards can create chicanes that alternate vehicle movement from one side of a road to another. This helps reduce speed while also segregating opposing traffic flows. Bollards can be used to separate turn lanes from straight lanes and prevent illegal turns.

Protect Infrastructure

Bollards placed around critical infrastructure such as utility poles, transit shelters, bridge supports, and road signs help shield these assets from accidental damage from vehicles. Bollards absorb the impact in a crash scenario, which protects both drivers and the infrastructure. This improves safety and reduces costs from repairs.

Increase Visibility

Bollards with reflective strips or paint enhance visibility along roadways at night. Bollards that are lit internally with LEDs provide even greater visibility for drivers along curving roads or near intersections. Improved visibility allows motorists to see and react to bollards or potential obstructions along the roadway.

Versatile Customizable Solution

Bollards offer versatile customizable solutions that can be tailored to meet specific safety needs in diverse settings. Bollards come in different heights, widths, materials, colors, and designs. Temporary or permanent bollards can be installed. Removable bollards allow access when needed for authorized vehicles.

Effective When Used Thoughtfully

Bollards clearly provide important safety benefits. However, careful analysis and planning are vital for bollards to be effective. Engineer input, traffic studies, and testing different arrangements are needed to get bollard placement and design right. Proper bollard height, size, spacing, and siting require expertise. Used thoughtlessly, bollards can create safety issues and traffic problems. But when installed judiciously, bollards are a valuable tool for enhancing road and people safety through both physical protection and traffic flow control.