SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Bollards controlling access of vehicles to some streets in the centre of Leeds have recently been erected. These are 3 photos that I took on May 16 2019 showing the bollards on Briggate near to the junction with The Headrow. In all there are 11 bollards there of which the 2 with the orange coloured bands move up/down. I recently saw the system in use when a driver pulled up and got out of his car but then appeared unsure what to do as there does not seem to be instructions. He figured it out (or perhaps guessed) as there is a small feature through which you speak to someone (unless automatically voice activated?) and then those 2 bollards sink to street level and you drive through. They rise again shortly after, presumably recognising that a vehicle is not still going through!

York has a bollard system after a certain time in the morning the bollards go up if you are in there after they go up then i think you have to stay until they go down late afternoon.They can be lowered for emergency services please correct me if i am wrong.

they don't always work, this is in Cardiff

Thanks tilly and warringtonrhino .

The photo of the lifted-up car is funny, but probably not for the driver! I wonder if the driver got a parking ticket?

Hi Leodian i dont know how some people get through life from day to day.

I believe that a large part of the reason for this robust control of vehicle access - see also the large black planters in Leodian's pictures - is to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks using vehicles as weapons.

Warringtonrhino's photograph reminds me of an incident in Quiberon, France, a few years ago. I was there in my motorhome, staying on an Aire de Camping Cars (24 hour car park just for motorhomes). Entry was by credit card machine and instead of a rising/lowering barrier, there was a single bollard, similar to the one above, in the middle of the narrow entrance road. A Frenchman pulled up at the entrance and asked me how to gain entry. It was about 10 Euros per night payable by credit card only. I explained to him, in my best French, how to enter and pointed out that once he had entered his credit card details and the bollard went down, he must drive into the Aire quickly and clear the bollard. He followed my instructions and then started to drive over the bollard and then, for some unknown reason, stopped with it directly underneath the centre of his vehicle (a £70,000 German Hymer Motorhome). After a few seconds, the bollard came up and jammed under his vehicle and possibly went through the floor, into the motorhome habitation area. In order to extract his vehicle and make the bollard go down again, he had to pay another 10 Euros on his credit card. I often wonder what damage was caused.

Ouch, that's a harsh one. I guess the authority that installed the bollard had a lot to pay after that... Couldn't they install security systems like on lift doors on them, something that would make them rise slowly and stop if they encounter something in their way?