A BOULEVARD of bollards on the pavement of the main road between Northfield and Longbridge have been causing a stir among cyclists.
Billed as the ‘Birmingham Bollard Bonanza’ and a ‘forest’ as it has been billed, a picture of the area on the A38 Bristol Road was posted by ‘World Bollard Association’ on Twitter and led to a blog from cycling website Road.CC
Welcome to Bollard World. A place where dreams come true.#WorldBollardAssociation
pic.twitter.com/QKRRHFGKkj— World Bollard Association™ (@WorldBollard) January 3, 2023
The 60 bollards on the 50metre stretch of pavement – to prevent people from parking outside Meadows Primary School – even made it into the national press.
Replying on Twitter on Road.CC’s page, DaveBax said: “Just put one line of them at the kerb edge and around the next corner junction?
“Cars can’t get onto path, and users don’t have to do a slalom?”
Picture by Marcus Mingins 0123004MMR3 copyright Bullivant Media
Tommo_44 added: “It’s an absolute eyesore too and if anything could prove more dangerous for cyclists or pedestrians trying to navigate it.
“Delivery drivers have also been unable to (drive on the pavement) park up and I hear parents have had difficulties (driving on the pavement) too.”
And Alex_MG said: “Why would they put up that many and not just a fence?”
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said:”We receive regular complaints from residents about inconsiderate and dangerous parking outside the school.
“We are working with the school to help challenge this behaviour and encourage walking and cycling where appropriate, but unfortunately the number of bollards that have been installed demonstrates the scale of the problem.
“We will continue to encourage parents to consider other forms of transport and to consider others when dropping off children at school.”
