Media Statement - Bollards

The following media statement was issued on 23 June following social media posts about the installation of bollards in Kirkwall's town centre.

The bollard fixings are being installed at the locations where we already place road closed signs when the street is closed – therefore the top of Laing Street, Bridge Street Wynd, St. Olafs Wynd and at the head of Albert Street.  A similar bollard fixing is already in place at the bottom of Bridge Street.  The bollards are stored elsewhere and erected as and when the street is closed. It’s therefore not a new thing – just a different way of doing it – and is completely unrelated to Elected Members previous consideration of traffic orders prohibiting vehicles on the main street in Kirkwall.

Street closures are put in place to ensure pedestrian and driver safety on specific days when there are over 3000 cruise passengers expected but also for community events such as parades. Between April and October this year there were due to be a total of 24 days when the street is closed, with 15 of these remaining.  We keep these closures under review and do not put them in place if the final passenger number is under 3000.

As well as avoiding unsightly and unwieldy road signs, using bollards is a more cost-effective and efficient way of managing these street closures.  Previously street closures required a crew and vehicle to attend each site with signs and sandbags at the start and end of each closure – whilst erecting the bollards will still require staff time it will be a much simpler task.  We’ve also experienced issues in the past with vehicle drivers committing an offence by moving the signs, ignoring the street closure and driving through the street anyway – this will avoid that from happening.

It should be noted that as part of the work a permanent bollard is also being installed outside Foubister and Bain. This is to avoid illegal parking in that area which has been preventing street cleaner access to The Strynd.