The city council is planning to install retractable bollards on Oxford Tce, primarily to prevent unauthorised vehicle access from Hereford St.
But they will also have another use – stopping vehicles involved in terror attacks from getting to parts of the central city.
City council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said the primary purpose of the $550,000 project was to prevent vehicles entering Oxford Tce outside the permitted times of access.
Thomas also said since the March 15 mosque attacks, city council staff also considered how these bollards could be used to “help keep people safe.”
When The Star revealed the bollard plan in May, a city council source said preventing terror attacks had been part of discussions around the benefits of having bollards.
The source said the terrorist attack in the French city of Nice in 2016 had been discussed. In that attack, a truck ploughed into a large crowd watching a fireworks display as part of Bastille Day celebrations. Eighty-six people were killed.
Thomas said the retractable bollards would be operated automatically to allow access for approved vehicles. Emergency services and the city council’s transport unit will also be able to operate the bollards, he said.
Work towards installing them will start in May next year.
