Central city  |  4 Feb 2022

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New retractable bollards placed in Oxford Terrace to stop vehicles entering the busy pedestrian area outside permitted times are about to become operational.

Christchurch City Council has installed 14 one-metre high bollards at the Hereford St end of Oxford Terrace for safety reasons.

The central three bollards are retractable so that vehicles and tram can pass.

Every morning at 5am the bollards will automatically lower to allow delivery vehicles to access the businesses along Oxford Terrace and Cashel Street, in line with the new City Mall access times that were adopted in October 2021. They will remain lowered until 10am, at which point they will automatically rise.

The bollards will be lowered again each day at 4pm, for an hour, to allow further deliveries to occur.

They will also go down when a tram approaches and rise when the tram has passed.

“Outside of those times, the bollards will in the raised position to create a safe, enjoyable environment for pedestrians,’’ says Council Head of Transport Lynette Ellis.

“With so many bars and restaurants along Oxford Terrace and great shopping along Cashel Street, this is an area that attracts lots of people. The bollards will stop unauthorised vehicle access and help to ensure that people can move about in safety.

“The bollards are on a timer system and will automatically move up or down at the stated times so if you are in the Oxford Terrace around those times, please be aware that they could shift position so be careful where you stand, drive or ride.’’

The emergency services also have the capability to lower the bollards when they need to. There is also a back-up power source for the retractable bollards so they can be operated even if there is an electricity network outage.

“We’ve been testing the retractable bollards for the past few weeks to make sure they are working as they should. They will become fully operational from Tuesday 8 February.’’