Flexible street posts part of plan to keep cyclists safe in Mississauga

Mississauga is looking at several different ways to keep cyclists safe as they travel the city on two wheels, including the installation of flexible street posts that would act as buffers between bikes and cars.

The posts, or bollards, are about three-feet tall, spaced relatively close together and are anchored into the road.

Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish told city council and senior staff on Wednesday that a trip to Toronto earlier in the week in which she drove along a busy and “disorganized” University Avenue sparked an idea to consider bringing bollards to Mississauga.

Though not impressed by the overall experience of University Avenue, Parrish said the roadway did feature numerous bollards separating the bicycle lane from main traffic — something that did land well with her.

“They have the little flexible bollards. They’re white, they’re three-feet tall and they protect the bike lane. And they’re placed fairly close together and they can’t be expensive,” the councillor said, suggesting to senior city staff that bollards might work well on select “main drags” in Mississauga.

Geoff Wright, Mississauga’s commissioner of transportation and works, told Parrish that such bollards are already being considered by his staff as they seek to make the roads safer for cyclists.

“Staff are using those (bollards) and exploring those in a number of different locations. We have examples in the city where we do have, I’ll call it buffered bike lanes with flexible bollards,” he said. “And as we advance our cycling network and are looking at new projects, we are looking at protected cycling and how that fits in, whether it’s raised cycling tracks on the boulevard or protected with more crash-resistant barriers, as an example. So, there are different forms depending on the situation.”

Wright said he’ll report back to council with more information in the near future.

Parrish reiterated she’s a fan of the bollards.

“They looked good; they looked safe,” she said, adding bollards, where they’re appropriate, appear to be “a retrofit that could be done probably fairly inexpensively.”

Geoff Wright, Mississauga’s commissioner of transportation and works, said bollards are among several features being considered to make roads safer for cyclists.