"John Rowland" wrote in message
...

I've recently noticed that a lot of the plastic lit-up bollards on traffic
islands seem to be wrong - for instance, a plain white disc where there
should be a leftward arrow, or a leftward arrow where there should be two
diverging arrows, etc. Particularly bad is the route from Old Street tube
station to New North Road, where every bollard seems to be wrong. Maybe
the
local kids have gone around rearranging them - it doesn't seem likely that
they could be knocked down in pairs and accidentally switched.

Assuming that you are right in what you think the bollards should be
showing, it is probably down to what the bloke fitting replacement bollards
has on board at the time. They are not going to be highly qualified traffic
engineers and probably see no problem in fitting a different bollard. The
only thing that stops you seeing keep right instead of keep left may be that
keep right bollards are very rare and unlikely to be on the lorry in the
first place.

A solution
could be to give the different styles of bollard different asymmetrical
shapes at the bottom, with matching differently shaped metal frames set
into
the concrete - then it would be impossible to switch them or put them in
the
right hole the wrong way around.

You then have the problem of ensuring that the bollard base fitting crew put
the right one in to begin with.

Colin Bignell

nightjar wrote:
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...

I've recently noticed that a lot of the plastic lit-up bollards on traffic
islands seem to be wrong - for instance, a plain white disc where there
should be a leftward arrow, or a leftward arrow where there should be two
diverging arrows, etc. Particularly bad is the route from Old Street tube
station to New North Road, where every bollard seems to be wrong. Maybe
the
local kids have gone around rearranging them - it doesn't seem likely that
they could be knocked down in pairs and accidentally switched.

Assuming that you are right in what you think the bollards should be
showing, it is probably down to what the bloke fitting replacement bollards
has on board at the time. They are not going to be highly qualified traffic
engineers and probably see no problem in fitting a different bollard. The
only thing that stops you seeing keep right instead of keep left may be that
keep right bollards are very rare and unlikely to be on the lorry in the
first place.

A solution
could be to give the different styles of bollard different asymmetrical
shapes at the bottom, with matching differently shaped metal frames set
into
the concrete - then it would be impossible to switch them or put them in
the
right hole the wrong way around.

You then have the problem of ensuring that the bollard base fitting crew put
the right one in to begin with.

Colin Bignell

In the first place the engineer who designed the traffic scheme should
have checked it before signing off the works and paying the bill. I
think this is more likely to be the result of sloppy maintenance (these
bollards are always being knocked over - preferable to the same thing
happening to people). Next time you see one that is wrong do your
community a favour and tell the Council so they can put it right sooner.

On 21 Jan 2006 12:14:52 -0800, "umpston" wrote:

In the first place the engineer who designed the traffic scheme should
have checked it before signing off the works and paying the bill. I
think this is more likely to be the result of sloppy maintenance (these
bollards are always being knocked over - preferable to the same thing
happening to people). Next time you see one that is wrong do your
community a favour and tell the Council so they can put it right sooner.

Easily done online:

http://streetfaults.tfl.gov.uk/newfault.shtml

"Marc Brett" wrote in message
news

http://streetfaults.tfl.gov.uk/newfault.shtml

I've reported a dozen faults (more serious than bollards) on that website a
few months ago. Although they were in six different London boroughs, none
have been fixed.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"umpston" wrote in message
ups.com...
....
In the first place the engineer who designed the traffic scheme should
have checked it before signing off the works and paying the bill. I
think this is more likely to be the result of sloppy maintenance ...

That is why I referred to the bloke fitting replacement bollards.

Colin Bignell