New Bollards

What is the City’s long term plan for the new bollards that are appearing everywhere?

The bollards placed in a wide configuration at the corner of Linkwood and West University make it difficult to negotiate a good turn on to Linkwood. Bollards are a blight on Baltimore because they are not attractive and they are also distracting. They are becoming more present and used by city traffic department in lieu of a better solution. What can be done?

The TCNA Streets Committee researched the issue.

We share your concerns about the aesthetics and specific placement of bollards in and around our neighborhood. I’ve noted your specific observation about the intersection of West University and Linkwood and will communicate that to the City. You also can submit a 311 request via the city’s portal so we have a record of the request to reference.

We’re working with the City DOT and Councilwoman Odette Ramos to determine how future improvements to streets in our neighborhood can address urgent safety concerns while making use of more durable and more aesthetically pleasing materials. The challenge, as always, is how to pay for a seemingly endless list of critical transportation needs (safety, maintenance, mobility improvements for people with disabilities) and neighborhood requests.

The bollards seem to be a response to the city leadership’s demand that City DOT address safety issues citywide as rapidly as possible. They’ve chosen to implement what are billed as “pilot” projects that can be made permanent via more durable materials and landscaping if the projects are determined to meet their objectives AND if more funding becomes available in the future to pay for longer term improvements. Both are big IFs.