The working from home during the pandemic appears to mean the beginning of the end for one of Preston’s iconic transport features.
Shifting patterns mean commuters heading into Preston city centre no longer hit the Fishergate bollard and friends.
The plinth, which stands on the junction of Fishergate and Corporation Street, has become infamous for being struck.
But in papers seen by Blog Preston it is understood Lancashire County Council is now looking to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the concrete structure.
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Funded by the European Union for the major revamp of Fishergate in 2013-14 the bollard has been mangling bumpers of cars and taxis ever since – even becoming a tourist attraction.
But with Preston’s streets becoming much quieter, particularly with many at County Hall itself now embracing home-working, the county council is not seeing the bollard as a good use of concrete.
A report states the number of bollard-related incidents has dropped by 7,000% in the past 12 months as motorists ditched their vehicles during the pandemic.
Now the county council is understood to have been approached by a German transport museum which wishes to purchase the bollards and put them on show in Hamburg.
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Mr Hanz Windsup told Blog Preston: “We are envious of these marvels of street furniture.
“They are so effective at slowing down motorists, bringing them to a grinding halt, I mean it deserves to be captured and preserved forever.
“We have made an offer to Lancashire County Council and we hope to hear back from them soon.”
Blog Preston attempted to contact the Bollard itself – but was stonewalled by the bollard’s agent as the social media following now means it has achieved a new level of status amongst Lancashire celebrities.
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Lancashire County Council declined to comment, saying it would address the bollard issue after the county elections in May.
Note: Hopefully you noticed the date this story was published, it is of course an April Fool! No bollards were harmed in the making of this story.
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