Retractable Bollards: Traffic Access Made Easy for Emergency Vehicles

Retractable bollards keep traffic away from delivery zones, maintenance access or fire lanes

Written by: Brad Done

For a maintenance or delivery truck, there are few things as frustrating as arriving at a client’s facility only to discover that another car is illegally parked in the loading zone or blocking the driveway where your truck needs to go. It is even worse, and perhaps life threatening, if an unwanted car is blocking fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, or other emergency vehicles from access to the people in trouble. Retractable bollards are a smart solution in areas that normally need to be blocked off to keep cars out, but where easy, and sometimes quick access is required. Unwanted traffic in loading areas is no longer a problem when retractable bollards are used.

Reliance Foundry offers a variety of shapes and sizes of retractable bollards in steel, stainless steel, and powder-coated stainless steel. The permanently installed receiver is below grade, and the top is flush with the pavement when the bollard is retracted into its lowered position. For property maintenance personnel, firemen, ambulance drivers, policemen, parking attendants, traffic coordinators etc., it is an easy task to manually raise or lower the post from the retractable bollard receiver when access needs to be prevented or allowed. A locking mechanism prevents any danger from unauthorized retraction.

Retractable bollards can also be used in places where a removable bollard might be required but storage space for the removed bollards is limited, non-existent or is distant from the location where the bollards are needed. In an emergency, retracting the bollard into its own below-grade receiver is also the quickest way to get rid of it safely, securely and without worry of where to store it.

Retractable bollards are offered with complimentary fixed and removable bollards for consistent site appearance when using multiple bollard types. Retractable bollards can be arranged in a line to close a road or path, preventing access to vehicles above a certain width. They can separate traffic from walkways to enhance pedestrian safety, or they can be used to temporarily enclose car "free" zones.

Retractable bollards, removable bollards and flexible bollards are all used for different purposes relating to traffic control. Reliance Foundry’s complete line of traffic control bollards meets practically all traffic management needs.

About Reliance Foundry Co. Ltd.

Reliance Foundry has been a family-owned business since 1927. Bollards are one of its main product lines, along with bike racks, industrial wheels and investment castings. Reliance sources products globally and offers quick and convenient delivery in the United States and Canada from its Vancouver location.