What's the purpose of the bollards popping up at intersections across Minneapolis?
MINNEAPOLIS -- If you've driven around Minneapolis lately you may have noticed a new addition to the roadways. Bollards have been popping up at intersections across the city. They're part of a safety project called Vision Zero Minneapolis.
The program was adopted by the City of Minneapolis in 2017. Their goal is to reduce traffic deaths to zero in 10 years. City data from 2021 showed the highest number of severe injury or fatal crashes since 2017 at 168.
"People shouldn't die moving around our city and we're working to make it safe for everyone to get around," Vision Zero Program Coordinator Ethan Fawley said.
A majority of severe and deadly crashes happen on just 9% of streets. The city has identified those problem areas as high-injury streets. It's where they are using low-cost bollards to slow down drivers, protect pedestrians and try to prevent crashes.
Yellow bollards are commonly seen in the middle of the road near intersections.
"They make it so you have to go out a little farther when turning left. That improves the visibility of pedestrians as you turn and it makes it so you can't cut the corner at a high rate of speed, which would increase the risk of a crash," Fawley explained.
Similar white-colored bollards are found near corners to protect pedestrians and prevent cars from parking too close to the crosswalks.
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"I've had a lot of complaints from people about them actually," Logan Willhite said.
Willhite works at Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis. White bollards block off the corner near the valet.
"I'd love to see these three go because they take up a spot in our valet lane," he said.
City data shows deadly and severe injury crashes have increased since 2017 and have been significantly higher since 2020. Despite this, the city says all other crashes have gone down.
As for the bollards and their effectiveness, some haven't survived and have been crumpled on the ground after repeatedly being run over. The city said they've had to replace quite a few but are hoping to upgrade them to concrete for a more permanent solution.
"I feel like you could implement a thousand different ways to stop crashing into each other, but yeah… They'll still figure it out somehow," Minneapolis resident Nathan Gamer said.
The city said it'll continue using data and community engagement for traffic safety initiatives. Minneapolis is one of more than 35 Vision Zero cities in the United States.