Snowplow operator uproots 30 plastic bollards on the 28th Avenue overpass

This photo was taken by reader Tanja Olson on Thursday, February 23rd.

Portland is still getting used to snowy winters — so too are the City’s snowplow operators.

On Thursday, a Portland Bureau of Transportation employee set the scooper on their plow a bit too wide and uprooted 30 plastic bollards that demarcate the bike lanes on the 28th Avenue overpass of I-84. The bollards were installed last summer and are part of the Twenties Bikeway route.

By Saturday only one bollard remained.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

With a bike rider for context.

Here’s a view from further away. Note how the destruction began right at the bridge deck.

It’s not as though these things are just glued to the ground willy-nilly.

Reader Tanja Olson shared that lead image above with us on Friday. Before confirming the snowplow assault with PBOT today, we weren’t sure exactly what uprooted all the bollards. So we had a bit of fun with our friends on Instagram and asked them for their ideas:

terry.d.m.bikes: I’m from Wisconsin originally, I know what it looks like. I’m sure the plow did it.

carmusmeathole: they were all laying down perfectly. i work around the corner. i figured a plow would have heard and swerved out of the way?

brandyschwandy: i blame fat bikes…

ogtothe503: Bigfoot.

nedholbrook: Thanks, Obama.

dangit.holly: crop circle aliens

rumpshaker71: Global Warming

All kidding aside, PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera told us today that it was indeed a snowplow operator. The incident was reported by the plow crew on Thursday and PBOT has already replaced 24 of the 30 bollards. They plan to install the final six tomorrow. “In the meantime,” Rivera added, “we took the opportunity to sweep the bike lane.”

Rivera also wanted to pass along this tip: “Whenever anyone sees damaged infrastructure on our streets or public right-of-way, the best thing to do is call our 24 hour dispatch hotline 503-823-1700, or use the PDXReporter.org web site.”

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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The post Snowplow operator uproots 30 plastic bollards on the 28th Avenue overpass appeared first on BikePortland.org.

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