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A Sudbury resident is raising concerns about a traffic-calming method being used by the city.

Temporary plastic bollards have been installed along a busy street in Azilda, and there are plans to install more at other locations throughout the Greater Sudbury area.

Karen Bass, who drives the busy street in Azilda every day, says the traffic-calming efforts are a waste of taxpayer money.

“I am finding there is more aggression toward them. I witness people getting out of their car and whip them into ditches because they are collapsing… They are in the middle of the road, and they can ruin your car… I am seeing all these broken ones on the side of the road and in ditches,” said Bass.

The city says the bollards are instrumental to slowing traffic as drivers detour around construction along Regional Road 35.

“Typically when we have major road work on our arterial roads, we see an influx of people using residential roads to bypass the construction. We tried to take a proactive approach to install the bollards as a traffic-calming measure for the neighbours,” said Joe Rocca, traffic and asset management supervisor at the City of Greater Sudbury.

Bass also expressed concerns about the safety of the bollards.

“Big dump trucks are driving down the street… there is very little room, so if you are driving and a bicyclist is beside you, it’s pretty scary,” said Bass.

Rocca says that is the precise purpose of the bollards.

“The idea is because they are in the middle of the road and as tall as your car, it makes drivers uncomfortable. When you make a driver uncomfortable, they slow down. It’s been proven time and time again. It’s the basic principle of traffic-calming,” said Rocca.

The Azilda bollards will be removed in the fall when construction is complete.

The city plans to install bollards at other locations such as Riverside Drive, Auger Avenue, and Michelle Drive in Hanmer as part of a two-year pilot project studying their effectiveness.


Source: CTV News