ADRIAN — The city of Adrian may have discovered an “appropriate” and “relatively affordable” solution to closing off downtown streets to traffic in a safe and secure manner.
Manual bollards that when extended to their full height reach 36 inches from ground level were presented to the Adrian City Commission during its June 20 premeeting work study session. Telescopic Security Bollards
Matthew Tomaszewski, Adrian’s director of engineering services, provided an example of one of the bollards to the commission and displayed how the devices can be unlocked and extended from the ground to its 3-foot height.
The base of the bollards can be installed into the street and stays in the street, according to Greg Elliott, Adrian city administrator.
“(Bollards) can be operated by hand when we are closing a street downtown to block traffic from getting through,” he said.
Earlier this year, safety and security of downtown events was often addressed by the commission during the city’s ongoing discussion about downtown street closure protocols. In order to block access to downtown streets, the city explored several barricade options varying in style and costs.
More:Adrian parade and street fair fund established as city adopts Public Area Closure Policy
Currently, city vehicles, such as department of public works trucks, fire trucks and police vehicles, are used by the city when closing downtown streets.
The bollards presented by Tomaszewski appear practical, Elliott said, and check the boxes when it comes to the city’s concerns about barricades such as the amount of labor required for implementation, costs of the barricades, attractiveness and effectiveness.
“We would need about 76 of these to cover all of our streets,” Tomaszewski said last week, while demonstrating the process of unlocking the bollard and raising it to its full height. “For the bollards themselves, we can get them for about $44,000. We think DPW can install them in a couple of weeks.”
Later in the meeting, Tomaszewski said installation of the bollards is estimated to take at least three weeks. The bollards are anywhere from 6-8 weeks out from being ordered and delivered, he added.
Additional costs for material and equipment to install the bollards could range from $20,000 to $30,000, Tomaszewski said.
“We could have all of our downtown streets in place with bollards for about $75,000,” he said.
Comparatively, rather militaristic-looking barricades the city had explored are estimated to cost about $90,000 for a set of eight barricades that would basically close off two streets, Elliott said. And, he added, they would not be very secure.
While in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago, Elliott recounted that such militaristic-looking barricades are easily movable and adjustable. On the other hand, commissioner Allen Heldt explained some bulky and heavy barricades he saw while in Grand Haven that he said would more than likely require a lot of lifting and manpower to move.
“One of the huge problems we have is not with people trying to intentionally breach the street closures, but rather participants in the street closure who may or may not want to drive about in it for one reason or another. You’re not driving through these, Elliott said. “Once those are up, they are up. They are staying up until somebody unlocks them.”
More:Adrian City Commission presented with policy, fee increases to close downtown streets
The bollards can be easily and quickly unlocked in case emergency vehicles need to access the downtown. The bollards would all be keyed the same, Tomaszewski said.
The bollards would be buried in the ground below the frost line, he continued. The city is planning to fabricate a covering that can be placed on top of the bollards specifically for the winter months. The covering is also designed to limit any dust, dirt or water from getting into the bollards while stored underground.
Downtown intersections that would have the bollards added to them, Tomaszewski said, would be East Maumee and North Broad streets, Main and Maumee streets, West Maumee and North Winter streets, South Main and Church streets, and North Main at East Front, Toledo and Washburn streets, he said. The location of the bollards would resemble a typical street closure for Adrian’s First Fridays.
The bollards themselves are 44 pounds and would be spaced 5 feet apart from each other. They are a relatively newer model on the market, Tomaszewski said. The supplier, which was not named by Tomaszewski, explained the bollards are not currently being used in communities in Michigan, Indiana or Ohio.
“We looked at a lot of other options, but this just seemed to make the most sense,” he said. “…A lot of people have the portable bollards that can be taken off a trailer and set in place. When I saw this, I thought this would help solve a lot of our problems.”
Foshan Bollards The commission will have Tomaszewski’s request to purchase the bollards on its next commission meeting agenda, scheduled for Monday, July 3.