This traffic bollard must be contender for the most replaced.

[OliverH]

When there was just a standard island in 2008
Then a taller island was erected in 2009
Then between 2009 -2012 the Mallatite Central bollard had been replaced with a Haldo bollard.
Then between 2012 and 2014 the island was enlarged, a post was added with a sign and a new Simmonsigns bollard was added.
in 2016 the post was gone and did not return until 2019 with an improved island and new Haldo Reflex bollard. meanwhile in 2018 a new TMP bollard had been erected. finally the bollard had been replaced again with what looked to be a second hand bollard that seemed to have a larger sign face.
I'm guessing that before 2008 there were many other bollards there too.

One thing that gets me is the bollard on a small island that sometimes gets ripped of its base at the roundabout in my village. Every time it is replaced with a similar bollard, you wonder why they didn't replace it with a bollard that rebounds or reflexes.

[yen_powell]

I reconstructed that island a few years ago and added an illuminated post with a pass both sides sign as a back up to the illuminated base light bollard. This was to attempt to stop the repeated strikes by drivers who didn't see the island till it was too late.

It worked for a while, unfortunately another department cut the post off to allow a building site crane to be installed and then just left it like that. The island started getting struck again. I have two cctv videos of p2ws hitting it and the common factor was none of them were looking forward at the time. One was looking down at his phone, the other was looking left and hurling abuse at a driver in lane 1. The last one travelled a good 30 feet before landing after his bike came too a halt at the Trieff kerbing. He laid there stunned for a few seconds and then starts patting all his limbs to make sure they work.

I was asked to look at trying to make the island more visible. This time I put a sleeve in so if the post got damaged it was more easily repairable. I added cats eyes and more road markings. Finally I painted the end of the island with road marking paint. It was meant to be painted with red and white reflective paint whilst I had the road closed but the painter let me down due to the rain. After giving him a bit of a shout down the phone I sprayed road marking paint (yellow) on to the end of the island. This lasted for quite a while. I also had some striped sign plates made up and drilled and fixed them to the end of the island myself. I can't get anyone in cleansing to wash them regularly though so I run a rag over them if I am passing.

I have photos somewhere of before during and after, I'll dig them out and post them.

The island will be going soon. It no longer fills its original function and the whole junction is being rebuilt due to the Wood Wharf development.

[Nathan_A_RF]

Why is that traffic island even there in the first place?

[yen_powell]

Why is that traffic island even there in the first place?

Because of the IRA originally, not long after the Canary Wharf bombing. It was put in at the Met's request as one of a series of check points with ANPR, CCTV. Whenever they feel like it they can use it to stop and search vehicles. Hopefully you can see the attached picture links. I haven't found the last rebuild pics, they may have been lost when our ICT department made the latest 'improvements'!
Before
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS-RD-BEFORE.jpg
After the first time I rebuilt it and had it painted.
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS- ... AYTIME.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS-RD-AFTER-DUS.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/Capture2.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/Capture1.jpg

[Chris Bertram]

This one, not far from where I live, is a frequent casualty. I think the issue is that it is in the swept path of buses that turn right out of the junction, so moving the island and the bollard back a couple of feet would probably do the trick. In the link above you can see that even the temporary replacement placed to keep idle hands away from live wires has been demolished; they can often be found having been placed at the side of the road.

For the junction awaiting a future bollard demolition, see this shot: https://goo.gl/maps/iAj13pzPU3F6CuhG9.

And is it just me, or is the island the wrong way round? Shouldn't the "pointy" end be facing the main road with the flat end towards the side road?

[WHBM]

I reconstructed that island a few years ago and ... I also had some striped sign plates made up and drilled and fixed them to the end of the island myself. I can't get anyone in cleansing to wash them regularly though so I run a rag over them if I am passing.

As might be apparent from past posts, I drive past that location southbound multiple times a day. Thank you for looking after the street furniture

A key issue is any pedal cycles in lane 1, starting from rest at the signals. It's uphill, and vehicles behind are trapped by a very slow moving cyclist until clear of the island. If I see any cycle ahead on approach I always move to lane 2 to clear them, but you have to click in to this.

The island will be going soon. It no longer fills its original function and the whole junction is being rebuilt due to the Wood Wharf development.

Can't quite see how this junction is impacted by Wood Wharf; there's a great big dock behind that high wall on the west. And if you've been into Wood Wharf itself (from Canary Wharf) you will find it wholly complex vehicle unfriendly, there must be 100 notices all round about penalties for a vehicle being stopped there.

[yen_powell]

I reconstructed that island a few years ago and ... I also had some striped sign plates made up and drilled and fixed them to the end of the island myself. I can't get anyone in cleansing to wash them regularly though so I run a rag over them if I am passing.

As might be apparent from past posts, I drive past that location southbound multiple times a day. Thank you for looking after the street furniture

A key issue is any pedal cycles in lane 1, starting from rest at the signals. It's uphill, and vehicles behind are trapped by a very slow moving cyclist until clear of the island. If I see any cycle ahead on approach I always move to lane 2 to clear them, but you have to click in to this.

The island will be going soon. It no longer fills its original function and the whole junction is being rebuilt due to the Wood Wharf development.

Can't quite see how this junction is impacted by Wood Wharf; there's a great big dock behind that high wall on the west. And if you've been into Wood Wharf itself (from Canary Wharf) you will find it wholly complex vehicle unfriendly, there must be 100 notices all round about penalties for a vehicle being stopped there.

New junction on Prestons Road coming for Wood Wharf (with new ped facilities) so the sheep pen by the blue bridge will be removed plus they are planning to narrow up the rest of Prestons Road to make it cycle friendly, the Yabsley island will go then. The ANPR/CCTV etc is no longer functional for various reasons. Narrowing the road is not something I approve of personally, I was involved in the widening to its present size and remember when it was narrow and the problems it caused. But others are determined. Once you lose carriageway to other uses the stats companies fill it up with shallow ducts like it's going out of business and then it is super expensive to do anything else with it and you lose the ability to keep a road open when working on it. Two ways on and off the island so I think you should keep them all as wide as possible to allow for such things without shutting a whole area off.

[Bryn666]

Why is that traffic island even there in the first place?

Because of the IRA originally, not long after the Canary Wharf bombing. It was put in at the Met's request as one of a series of check points with ANPR, CCTV. Whenever they feel like it they can use it to stop and search vehicles. Hopefully you can see the attached picture links. I haven't found the last rebuild pics, they may have been lost when our ICT department made the latest 'improvements'!
Before
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS-RD-BEFORE.jpg
After the first time I rebuilt it and had it painted.
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS- ... AYTIME.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/PRESTONS-RD-AFTER-DUS.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/Capture2.jpg
https://images.versys1000.com/Capture1.jpg

Fair play on actually using the correct pass either side sign and having the ability to think outside the box when the island posed an issue. Wish we had more people in the industry capable of this.

[Conekicker]

I can't help but think that a rising bollard would be a safer installation there, rather than something that is repeatedly getting hit. The bollard is raised only when the police are "doing their thing", otherwise it's down and not presenting a traffic hazard. Obviously you'd have to raise it occasionally to make sure the mechanism still functioned.

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

[Chris Bertram]

I can't help but think that a rising bollard would be a safer installation there, rather than something that is repeatedly getting hit. The bollard is raised only when the police are "doing their thing", otherwise it's down and not presenting a traffic hazard. Obviously you'd have to raise it occasionally to make sure the mechanism still functioned.

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

Rising bollards, even if used frequently, are very prone to failure. The golf course down the road from me had them to control access, one for in and one for out. At some stage one of them failed in the "up" position with, as they say, hilarious consequences. They're now fixed in the "down" position and have been replaced with arm barriers, less beautiful to look at but easier to fix as the mechanism is all above ground.

[yen_powell]

I can't help but think that a rising bollard would be a safer installation there, rather than something that is repeatedly getting hit. The bollard is raised only when the police are "doing their thing", otherwise it's down and not presenting a traffic hazard. Obviously you'd have to raise it occasionally to make sure the mechanism still functioned.

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

Requests to remove it come regularly, so the Police are consulted and up till recently they always wanted it kept (plus the other locations). I believe that is no longer the case so it's coming out.

Rising bollards are always trouble. I think the only way to have one in place and get along with it is to have someone sitting in a box next to it 24/7 ready to sort it out if it causes problems. Such a waste of manpower has probably not been seen since the Victorian era. We looked at putting one in to stop rat running traffic in Wapping many years ago. Just before it was all set to be installed we got a new chief officer who had just been working at Newham and she put a halt on it straight away as she had to deal with the fall out from the one they had at that time on a main road.

[Bryn666]

I can't help but think that a rising bollard would be a safer installation there, rather than something that is repeatedly getting hit. The bollard is raised only when the police are "doing their thing", otherwise it's down and not presenting a traffic hazard. Obviously you'd have to raise it occasionally to make sure the mechanism still functioned.

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

Requests to remove it come regularly, so the Police are consulted and up till recently they always wanted it kept (plus the other locations). I believe that is no longer the case so it's coming out.

Rising bollards are always trouble. I think the only way to have one in place and get along with it is to have someone sitting in a box next to it 24/7 ready to sort it out if it causes problems. Such a waste of manpower has probably not been seen since the Victorian era. We looked at putting one in to stop rat running traffic in Wapping many years ago. Just before it was all set to be installed we got a new chief officer who had just been working at Newham and she put a halt on it straight away as she had to deal with the fall out from the one they had at that time on a main road.

I regularly had to go and fix, which translated to switch off, the ATG bollards in Blackburn when they usually failed to retract despite someone having a pass. Horrible things.

I don't know if tech has improved since 2001 but these early ones we had were, and still are, utter bobbins.

[WHBM]

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

I was never ever stopped there, and can hardly recall officers ever being present. It went in, along with some others, after the 1996 Docklands bomb (which I just missed, being still driving home from Surrey when it happened, but all the neighbours were still out in the road to describe it some hours later). I can't remember if there used to be an officers' shelter in the middle there. Canary Wharf has retained their significant 24x7x365 security checks on all road entries, which continue to be thorough and must be a considerable cost to them.

I also had some striped sign plates made up and drilled and fixed them to the end of the island myself. I can't get anyone in cleansing to wash them regularly though so I run a rag over them if I am passing.

They are quite low down, but I gave these a little wave today

[yen_powell]

It might also be informative to ask the Met when was the last time they did a stop and search at that location? I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with blank looks. If it's not being used, take the island out.

I was never ever stopped there, and can hardly recall officers ever being present. It went in, along with some others, after the 1996 Docklands bomb (which I just missed, being still driving home from Surrey when it happened, but all the neighbours were still out in the road to describe it some hours later). I can't remember if there used to be an officers' shelter in the middle there. Canary Wharf has retained their significant 24x7x365 security checks on all road entries, which continue to be thorough and must be a considerable cost to them.

I also had some striped sign plates made up and drilled and fixed them to the end of the island myself. I can't get anyone in cleansing to wash them regularly though so I run a rag over them if I am passing.

They are quite low down, but I gave these a little wave today

Give them a wipe over, I'm using up my leave at the moment.

I recall when one of our managers came back from a security meeting with various government and Police bodies about setting up the check points in the first place. He sketched out the locations on a piece of paper and gave it to me to draw up. I gave him his piece of paper back afterwards as he had confidential notes from the meeting on the back.

I was in Wales when the CW bomb went off. I drove back home via central London (remember when you could do that instead of using the M25) and as I drove along Aspen Way I was shocked at all the curtains and blinds flapping out of the glassless windows.

I was stopped at one of the security points by the police at 2am. It was the splitter island in Trafalgar Way, I was on my way to the Macdonalds. I was just asked where I was going and they shone a torch in the back of my car and then they let me carry on.

[WHBM]

We're showing our ages by remembering the McDonalds there. Must have been removed 10 years ago, possibly more. I've been (very) peripherally involved with redevelopments of the site, one of which, now under a different developer, seems finally to be going ahead.

Maybe you can ask the contractor there now to pull back the black site hoarding, which restricts eastbounds in the nearside lane from seeing pedestrians at the crossing. I've seen multiple close things there, and feel sure it's outside the visibility guidelines for a Zebra.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5068407 ... 384!8i8192

[yen_powell]

We're showing our ages by remembering the McDonalds there. Must have been removed 10 years ago, possibly more. I've been (very) peripherally involved with redevelopments of the site, one of which, now under a different developer, seems finally to be going ahead.

Maybe you can ask the contractor there now to pull back the black site hoarding, which restricts eastbounds in the nearside lane from seeing pedestrians at the crossing. I've seen multiple close things there, and feel sure it's outside the visibility guidelines for a Zebra.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5068407 ... 384!8i8192

Technically the zig zag area in the carriageway is the required sightline, but I agree, it's not ideal, the more you can see the better as you say. I'll mention it to the hoarding people. I'd be interested to know if a deposit is still being held for the hoarding covering the footway after all this time and also why it needed to project out on to the footway in the first place. I'm assuming the footway is ours, but will check on the highway maps next week.

[dseagull]

Locally, this one seems to be missing more than it is there; https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8618088 ... 384!8i8192

The reason is that the exit from Argos/Wickes is (apparently!) supposed to be a no right turn (indeed on one of the street view images there is a sign visible on the lamppost opposite). This must be the most ignored 'no right turn' sign in Sussex, and not only is it nearly always ignored, the sign is nearly always missing as well. As for the bollard, it gets it from both sides - car transporters turning left into the BMW dealership, and more regularly, if anything much larger than an SUV tries to turn right out onto the main drag of the industrial estate from the retail park.

[MotorwayGuy]

Ever since the roundabout to the left was removed, this no right turn sign and associated bollard has been replaced at least 4 times.

Locally, this one seems to be missing more than it is there; https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8618088 ... 384!8i8192

The reason is that the exit from Argos/Wickes is (apparently!) supposed to be a no right turn (indeed on one of the street view images there is a sign visible on the lamppost opposite). This must be the most ignored 'no right turn' sign in Sussex, and not only is it nearly always ignored, the sign is nearly always missing as well. As for the bollard, it gets it from both sides - car transporters turning left into the BMW dealership, and more regularly, if anything much larger than an SUV tries to turn right out onto the main drag of the industrial estate from the retail park.

A very rare sign there as well, even though it is private.