PBOT reinstalling bollards on Lovejoy – UPDATED

At work on Lovejoy.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

PBOT is giving the plastic bollards on the NW Lovejoy ramp another shot. There are 30 or short “wands” installed to keep cars out of the bike lane; unfortunately not more than a few days after they were put in, drivers managed to uproot all but four of them.

A PBOT contractor is out there as I type this re-installing the wands with what agency spokesman Dan Anderson says is a “better method” of attachment. “Our maintenance crews have some techniques for concrete that should make these harder to knock off,” he says.

Hopefull he’s right. Time will tell (see update below).

Check out more pics below…

UPDATE, 10:05 am on 1/11: So far it looks like the newly installed bollards are holding up well. None of them had been knocked over when I went by this morning…

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Spencer Boomhower
12 years ago

YES! Flaming bollards! That’ll take care of- Oh.

Opus the Poet
12 years ago

i was hoping for the road turtle with the 6″ steel spike to shred tires. Well actually the road turtle without the spike with the bollard mounted to the top of the turtle.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  Opus the Poet

Paint balloons!
Paint balloons!
Paint balloons!

Chris I
Chris I
12 years ago
Reply to  q`Tzal

That sounds like a DIY solution to me. Maybe neon pink?

Scott
Scott
12 years ago

Who wants to start the pool for how long they last?

Champs
Champs
12 years ago

Speaking as a zero car guy… shorter wands, and more of them. They’re much less fun to hit.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  Champs

How does shorter help?
These are flexible, if they are too short the auto driver won’t even notice they are there.

() Better to put one those cheap Tireflys motion activated lights on every bollard.
() Set up cameras to capture a live stream of the area.
() Configure sensors tuned to the specific spectra of the Tireflys LED that saves the last 15~30 seconds of video when one of the bollards gets bumped.
() Have PPD send warnings to the vehicle owners about the violation detailing the specific code violated and the consequences (legal, financial and mortal).
() After a few consecutive violations forward a copy to the auto insurance provider attached to that vehicle registration.

Spiffy
Spiffy
12 years ago
Reply to  q`Tzal

q`TzalHow does shorter help?

they catch on things under the car and make noise or cause damage, instead of just laying flat when driven over like the tall ones…

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

Much as I like the idea of causing damage, or completely immobilizing a vehicle driven by a violator, I am fairly sure it is not legal.
Neither, I’m sad to say, would be my cathartic suggestion of paint balloons.(*)

As for the noise caused by running over a bollard: drivers can barely hear cyclists yelling over the sound of rushing wind, tire noise and their stereos cranked wide A$$ open.
What make you think that an inattentive auto driver will be paying attention for some barely perceptible noise?

(*) Could we get away with that UV marking powder that is commonly put in self defense pepper spray canisters? No pepper or mace, just the invisible UV reactive ink.

I’d rather have a camera system. If we can’t send tickets by mail I say we let the auto insurer determine what that driver’s premiums should be for their delinquent driving.

Stripes
Stripes
12 years ago

So glad to see these going in again! Better luck second time around. While they’re at it with the blowtorch, can we get some of them installed at SE 12th & Ankeny too as a temporary diverter!

Steelshwinnster54
Steelshwinnster54
12 years ago

k, now Im really confused. I thought they were going to attach them with really thick tar pad(see picture, pad on left of square pad) But it appears that is not the case. Dont know how they were attached before but this looks like it will harden up and on a cold morning will snap off between the tar and bollard. What do I know?

John Lascurettes
12 years ago

So, I took a good look at them tonight. They look like the same heat glue they used last time, except each one has one bolt on it too this time. I don’t know how much of a difference it will make.

Opus the Poet
12 years ago

Replace random plastic bollards with 5cm diameter steel rods set into the road surface about 25cmand then set a plastic bollard over that so that drivers can’t tell which are which. I guarantee the second one to tear a wheel off on one of those will be the last, Just tell drivers that as the plastic bollards get knocked down they get replace by the steel reinforced ones until they stop getting knocked over or they are all steel.

Randall S.
Randall S.
12 years ago
Reply to  Opus the Poet

Yeah, that was basically my idea: replace all but 1 with the cheaper plastic glue-ons, and then put in one rebar-reinforced concrete pillar.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Opus the Poet

Heck, hide the steel inside the bollard.

d
d
12 years ago

10:30pm–one bollard is already down!

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  d

YEAH! Internet Reporting at the speed of we have no life!

Spiffy
Spiffy
12 years ago
Reply to  q`Tzal

it’s still legal for us to surf bikeportland while we bike… (:

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

🙂
How am I supposed to stay up to date of traffic problems, headphones?
I think I need to mount a Toughbook tablet up front with a smaller viewer hooked up to a rear facing camera.
(:

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

Driving while distracted, much? That law applies to us as well.

gb
gb
12 years ago

Im just upset they took lovejoy away from bikes and replaced it with marshall which requires a stop at almost every intersection through the Pearl. I fell like we are going back to the 90’s. BS

pabstslut
pabstslut
12 years ago
Reply to  gb

Marshall does suck. I gave up on it and take Overton instead.

007
007
12 years ago
Reply to  gb

I agree. Lovejoy was ruined by the speed-of-walking streetcar.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago
Reply to  007

“Speed of walking streetcar”

+5
At some point wouldn’t it be cheaper just to put in two belts of continuous moving sidewalk like in airport concourses?

Two speeds: 4-5MPH for the one closest to the concrete sidewalk and another 4-5 MPH faster just adjacent to that with a railing separating it from traffic.

No schedules, no backups, no waiting: empower pedestrians to move at the speed of technology without a vehicle!

Tourbiker
Tourbiker
12 years ago

One single bolt (on the windward side of traffic flow)… might do it..
120deg spacing all around would be better…problem with adding lots of bolts to each pylon is it’s very time consuming…I can see why they might be simply testing to find sort of a minimum denominator for what works.
I just moved to Las Vegas…I’ve come to a new appreciation for all PBOT does for the PDX..

Down here riders are lucky to get a white stripe!

are
are
12 years ago
Reply to  Tourbiker

the white stripe is actually the problem here, and the bollards exacerbate the problem. this is a situation in which a cyclist should assert control of the lane and not permit a motorist to pass. that was true before the streetcar rail went in, and it is especially true now with the rail and with the forced turns at the bottom of the ramp.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  are

How is it a problem that a motorist passes legally in an entirely different lane?

Jacob
Jacob
12 years ago

They need to be big enough for drivers to see, flexible enough that they bounce back when hit, and secure enough that they aren’t uprooted. We have terrible drivers and traffic in NYC, yet we have been able to install these things that last many years.

dan
dan
12 years ago

Why not use “turtles” here?

Karstan
Karstan
12 years ago

gb
Im just upset they took lovejoy away from bikes and replaced it with marshall which requires a stop at almost every intersection through the Pearl. I fell like we are going back to the 90’s. BS

They didn’t take anything “away.” It’s still legal to bike on any road (aside from the interstate). If you want to go faster, bike on the faster road and take your lane.

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
12 years ago
Reply to  Karstan

the mandatory sidepath law often makes it illegal to take the lane and bike faster. just sayin’

are
are
12 years ago
Reply to  Karstan

lovejoy is now one-way east from god knows where to 9th, so yes, they did take it away. overton was always a better choice than marshall.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Karstan

Most interstates are open to bicycles. Central Portland is the largest exception in the region. You can save nearly 5 hours by taking I 5 instead of Oregon bike route WV between Champoeg and Eugene.

NW Biker
NW Biker
12 years ago

I’ve seen similar bollards elsewhere that are yellow or orange. No excuses for oblivious drivers, but why are these white? To match the paint stripe?

John Lascurettes
12 years ago
Reply to  NW Biker

The do have a reflective bit at the top, so at night at least they should show up better.

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
12 years ago
Reply to  NW Biker

This has been mentioned here before, but yes, essentially to match the stripe. Yellow is for centerlines, or the left side of one-way traffic on divided roads. Orange is “temporary traffic control” (think construction).

Ryno Dan
Ryno Dan
12 years ago

This action is another subsidy for mv users.

mv causes damage to infrastructure.
society magically repairs damage with cost to taxpayers.

The damage is just another of the zillion examples of “stuff cycles/cyclists don’t do”.

Ryno Dan
Ryno Dan
12 years ago

And since it seems as yet unmentioned – I don’t like the bollards/wands because they are ugly, and we have enough ugli in the built environment.

007
007
12 years ago

The new installation method does not correct or solve the problem of drivers entering the bike lane.

I stand by my suggestion that a section of big round yellow bumps are put in the driving lane at the right turn off of Broadway onto Lovejoy. The drivers need to take the turn slowly. Too bad if they don’t like it. Safety first.

Nom de Plume
Nom de Plume
12 years ago

Still waiting for K-rails…

beth
12 years ago

[Bleep] them, and the ridiculously narrow bike lane they’re supposed to “protect”. The whole design remains a bad joke.
I’ll still ride the sidewalk going down the ramp.
Let them ticket me.

are
are
12 years ago
Reply to  beth

pretty sure you are outside the no bikes on sidewalks zone there. i have wondered for awhile why PBoT does not promote that sidewalk as an MUP.

Andycigarettes
Andycigarettes
12 years ago
Reply to  are

Why not just move that railing over to encompass the bike lane? Something like that?

are
are
12 years ago
Reply to  Andycigarettes

i know i am just an old crank, but i really do want to be able to make a left onto 9th at the bottom of the ramp without getting into a whole copenhagen thing.

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
12 years ago
Reply to  are

this could be a saturday night live skit.

John Lascurettes
12 years ago
Reply to  are

Yes, Lovejoy is outside of the no-sidewalk zone. No sidewalk riding zone is from Naito to 13th and SW Jefferson to NW Hoytt (just at the to bottom of the hill on Broadway coming off the bridge).

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  are

Because mixing pedestrians and bicycles is more dangerous and prone to physical consequence than putting vehicles with other vehicles.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  beth

6 feet is pretty generous for bike lanes. Meets the Oregon minimum width, is half the width of a freeway lane, and two feet wider than the federal minimum.

Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor
12 years ago

!!! They have knocked them all down, repeatedly? Wow – there’s just no excuse for that. If you can’t avoid hitting something covered with reflective tape and sticking up at knee-height on the side of the road, you shouldn’t have a license.

Chris Smith
12 years ago

First five are down as of 3pm…

dan
dan
12 years ago
Reply to  Chris Smith

Wonder if people are doing it deliberately. Perhaps the next set should be metal, anchored in concrete – that would be a surprise.

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
12 years ago
Reply to  dan

It would be a really big surprise when a kid on a bike hits it and dies from internal bleeding. There have been many comments about making these things less forgiving to the vehicles running into them, and I get it. The reality, though, is that everything in the roadway has to be “crashworthy”, meaning that it can’t really cause significant damage to vehicles. These delineators are awfully close to bicycle traffic for all the steel, concrete and sharp edges some folks are calling for. At first I thought it was wistful joking, but I’m starting to think some people aren’t thinking that through.

I kind of like paint balloons, though. That has potential.

Opus the Poet
12 years ago
Reply to  Machu Picchu

Actually most of the suggestions for rigid bollards are duplicates of what goes in place for bike paths, heavy steel or reinforced concrete even when there is no car traffic to exclude. And as for the carnage damage they can do, have you ever been hit by a car? I have and even glancing blows are painful and take a long time to recover from. I would destroy a thousand cars to prevent that from happening to a(nother) human being.

Opus the Poet
12 years ago
Reply to  Opus the Poet

OK the strikeout tag didn’t work, imagine a line through “carnage” up there…

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
12 years ago
Reply to  Opus the Poet

Damaging a car by putting spikes on the ground, or hiding steel rods inside a plastic post (both of which have been suggested on this and a previous Lovejoy story) are going to teach a lesson, but they’re not going to stop you or me from getting hit by a car. You may not care how many cars “you” destroy in your quest to prevent them from hitting bikes, but my point is that you would be exposing the people on bikes to the same risks. And I’m sorry you’ve been hit by a car. Sounds like a drag. I probably should have been by now, with all the mistakes I have made as a cyclist as well as those of motor vehicle operators that I have shared the road with.

It bothers me just to see a white line worn away, showing that people are just drifting into the bikelane out of laziness or impatience, so it’s not like I’m unsympathetic to the problem. It’s just that I don’t think sabotaging the fog line with physical hazards is the right way to address it. I still agree with paint balloons.

dan
dan
12 years ago
Reply to  Machu Picchu

“The reality, though, is that everything in the roadway has to be “crashworthy””

I would argue that guardrails don’t meet that standard.

dan
dan
12 years ago
Reply to  dan

And those big orange crash barriers, for that matter.

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
12 years ago
Reply to  dan

“In the roadway” being the operative phrase. These delineators are emphasizing a pavement marking, and they are not intended to stop a car, nor keep a bicycle from taking the lane. Essentially, they’re still in an area designed to be travelled in. Guardrails are like other traffic control devices in that they have to meet crashworthiness standards, but it is fair to say that those are not developed with bicycles, motorcycles, et cetera in mind.

John Lascurettes
12 years ago
Reply to  Chris Smith

I saw one in the middle and all of the tightly spaced ones at the top already down and missing at 6:30 tonight.

John Lascurettes
12 years ago

And another was down tonight. These aren’t going to last very long again.

Chrehn
Chrehn
12 years ago

The boys in their jacked-up 4 wheel-drive diesel city-pickups like to run over them with their macho tires. Apparently, it is a very masculine thing to do.

slate
slate
12 years ago

The real shame/problem is how unsafe the tracks have made it for both automobiles and cyclists. Ultimately, I think Portland will realize the mistake of their investment vs. amount of use the trains will have. This Lovejoy/Broadway/Weidler territory is worse for all of us now.

esther c
esther c
12 years ago

I’m wondering if its cars or wide vehicles that are taking them out. All the dump trucks, semis etc that drive around the city like its a highway might be responsible. They can’t fit in a narrow lane.

Joe Suburban
Joe Suburban
12 years ago

Yup, that was me! Took two out with the outside tyre of my Ford 350 duallie truck. I only heard a faint “thump-thump” back there. There was a jack*** with a beemer waiting on the yellow line for the light on the uphill side, I tapped the brakes, the empty truck slipped on the tracks and whacked those bollards out!