Bothered by Bollards?

It’s interesting how hot button topics burst onto the scene on Marco Island. Whether it’s the transgressions of a city council member, noisy short-term rentals, the septic tank replacement program, or golf carts and slow-speed vehicles, our citizenry is not shy about expressing their feelings when they’re not happy about something. Currently, the new yellow bollards being installed by the City of Marco Island on the island’s shared-use paths seem to have many of the island’s natives restless.

Marco Islanders who are concerned about the bollards are not alone. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) website describes bollards as “a bad idea” and “a potentially fatal safety hazard.”

Many residents on popular Marco Island-centric Facebook pages simply do not understand why the bollards were installed. Many suspect they are being installed to stop golf carts from using the shared-use paths. 

City of Marco Island public works director Justin Martin said the bollards are not being installed to stop golf cart traffic. 

“Essentially,” Martin said, "we had a lot of complaints about near misses and unsafe conflicts between bicycles and vehicles at these intersections. So, we looked at it. And what we are doing is at intersections that have the shared paths, which are the eight foot wide sidewalks that are unsignalized, that have a high volume of traffic, where you have the side street, you have a lot of traffic coming through. The reports that we were getting were primarily generated by e-bikes and they're not slowing down, not looking for vehicles turning from Collier Boulevard onto these side streets and just going right through and not even being concerned with any cars turning. We've had a lot of near misses and reports of near misses and unsafe situations.”

Martin said there’s only so many options for the city.

"There's a limited amount of things that we can do to mitigate those unsafe situations,” Martin said. "We follow the state law as far as traffic control and what's allowed. Some people say there shouldn't be any e-bikes on these sidewalks. They should only be on the roads. Then there’s another 50 percent of the population saying if you push e-bikes out on the roads, you're going to push inexperienced bicycle riders out into the road. You're going to have them getting killed because they run out in the bike lanes on the road, so they should be on the sidewalk. State law allows e-bikes to be on the sidewalks and shared paths. So, we're following state law. We're not prohibiting e-bikes.”

A total of 28 bollards are planned. Martin says the city sees the bollards as a way to make things safer.

“In order to mitigate some of these unsafe situations,” he said, "when you have to negotiate some bollards in your way as you're approaching these intersections, and you're on an e-bike, your natural reaction is to slow down because, ‘Oh, wait a minute, I have something that looks like an obstacle now that I have to maneuver around.’”

Martin said the early results tell him the plan is working.

"Putting these bollards at those locations has resulted in slowing down the e-bikes as they approach the intersections,” Martin said. "We used to get regular reports of the unsafe situations with conflicts between e-bikes and vehicles. They have since gone away.”

He said one particular intersection spurred the city into action.

"The first one that we instituted was at Tigertail Court at Collier Boulevard,” Martin said. “When you're traveling southbound on Collier Boulevard, crossing the Herb Savage Bridge, the first intersection there is at Tigertail Court. You have a lot of turning traffic that goes to that residential area north of Collier Boulevard through Tigertail Court. And you have these e-bikes coming down the Herb Savage Bridge, down that sidewalk, and not slowing down, not looking to see if there's any turning vehicles. That created a lot of the reports. So when we looked at what we can do, bollards are a passive control measure that doesn't require maintenance once you put them in. They do have the effect of slowing down these e-bikes as they're approaching these intersections. And I know you've got 50 percent of the people that are for them, 50 percent that are against them. Any time you have something new, it generates a lot of questions.”

The FHWA doesn’t mince words when addressing bollards in off-road facilities. Their website, fhwa.dot.gov,  reads: "Bollards: A Bad Idea. Why?” The FHWA lists a number of arguments against bollards: *Bollards should never be a default treatment. *Bollards are a potentially fatal safety hazard. *Unjustified bollards may create liability. *Bollards, or other barriers, can slow emergency response access. *Bollards are often ineffective: people go around or damage the bollards.

FHWA’s standards state that bollards must not restrict access for people with disabilities must be visible in low light conditions, have enough sight distance so users can adjust speed, should permit passage without dismounting for adult tricycles, bicycles towing trailers, and tandem bicycles, accommodate all users legally permitted to use the trail, and must be easily removable for emergency vehicle access.

FHWA states that bollards should never be used in even numbers because they can possibly create head-on collisions.

Marco’s new bollards are in sets of two, leading to confusion when two bicycles approach the bollards from opposite directions. The new bright yellow bollards certainly seem to meet the FHWA criteria of being visible in low-light conditions. Whether they permit passage without dismounting seems to depend on the skill level of the rider. Martin says the bollards, which are placed 36” apart, are legal in that regard.

"The bollards are spaced such that they meet the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Martin said. "ADA requires a minimum of 36". You can get wheelchairs through there. You can get the bikes with the little trailers where you either have a child or a dog or something in that little trailer. They make it through. I have one of those, and they make it through the bollards fine. But the reaction as you approach one of these is, ‘Oh, my gosh, it's something that I'm not used to seeing. I need to slow down.' And that's the intended effect is for them to slow down. That gives the cyclists and also gives the motorists more reaction time because now it's slowing people down and causing people to be more aware as they approach the intersection.”

Two wheeled bicycle trailers vary in width, with 22” a common width. This allows seven inches of clearance on either side of the trailer as it passes through the bollards. This may seem like a reasonable amount of clearance until you consider that you cannot see your trailer behind you as you pass through the bollards. For very experienced cyclists, passing through a 36” opening with a 22” trailer is certainly doable. For the novice rider, negotiating your 29-30” handlebars through a 36” opening can be harrowing enough. Imagine not being able to see your baby - whether human or canine - as you pass through the bollards.

“For those bicycle riders and e-bike riders that do not wish to navigate through these bollards,” Martin said, "they can always use the in-road bike lanes. Every place that we're putting these bollards is on a shared path. And those roads that have a shared path also have an in-road bike lane. The in-road bike lanes don't have any bollards and you follow the rules of the road. You don't have to stop or slow down there. So those more experienced cyclists and e-bike riders that don't want to negotiate these bollards can always use the in-road bike lanes."

I spoke with three experienced adult riders who are regular users of the island’s shared-use paths to gauge their satisfaction with the new bollards.

"I feel that it's a good idea in a way,” said Janet Moses, an e-bike rider, "because a lot of people do go way too fast on their bikes and scooters. But riding a bike, it's difficult to go around (the bollards). You have to really pay attention to go around. I don't know what the drawback would be to the bollards unless you don't feel like getting off your bike and going around, or you're not that great of a bike rider and you're uncomfortable, or if you have a kid that you're dragging behind you. I like to ride on the sidewalk. I really don't like to ride in the bike lane. I’m just afraid of getting hit. I go around the bollards. I won't go in between them. I feel uncomfortable going between them. That kind of messes up your bike ride because now you're getting off almost at every corner. I've noticed they're all over. I don't understand how the bollards are going to slow down e-bikes because I think they're going to just keep on zipping through them. I mean, if you're a kid on an electric bike, you can keep going. You slow down at the corner and go around and zip off again at 25 mph. So, I think it has its pros and cons, but they're there, so you might as well embrace it."

Delores Nash describes herself as an experienced e-bike rider. Interestingly, Nash once worked for Bicycling, the popular magazine that’s been around since 1961.

"I think they're a good idea, actually twofold,” Nash said. "It makes you aware of the cars coming to an intersection. I think it just makes everyone aware to slow down at an intersection, so to speak. But I’m pretty experienced. I generally go through them, just slowly. I'm overly cautious, so I kind of think it's a good idea."

Michael Montgomery is an e-bike rider in his summer home in Park City, Utah, where he’s at 7,000 ft., but rides a traditional bicycle on the island. He was surprised when he saw the bollards popping up around the island.

"I saw them, and I was surprised,” Montgomery said. "I guess it’s to make bicyclists aware that they're approaching the intersection. I wasn't sure it's necessary, there are other markings. You can sure bump into them."