Cars driving straight through gap in Queen Street bollards
Drivers are ignoring newly installed bollards on Queen Street, with multiple vehicles seen driving through a wide gap in the barriers to park outside shops on the pedestrianised street.
Why it matters: The bollards were installed to stop drivers flouting the town centre's vehicle access restrictions, after Ipswich Borough Council said it lacked the power to fine moving vehicles entering the area. However, a gap wide enough for cars to pass through comfortably is undermining that effort.
The details: Several vehicles have been seen using the gap to drive onto Queen Street and park outside shops, while other drivers have simply parked outside the bollards instead. Officers have been seen issuing penalty charge notices to vehicles on the street.
For context: The bollards were installed earlier this month on Carr Street, Tower Street, Westgate Street and Queen Street as part of a council scheme to enforce the town centre's existing daytime vehicle restrictions. On Queen Street, vehicle access is only permitted between 16:30 and 10:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, with access prevented at all other times.
Council leader Cllr Neil MacDonald said at the time the bollards were announced: "The council doesn't have the powers to issue fixed penalty notices to vehicles which drive into the town centre during the periods when vehicles are prohibited. We can issue fixed penalty notices to vehicles that are parked where they shouldn't be parked, but we can't have enforcement officers in every part of the pedestrianised area of the town centre to do so.
"Installing the bollards is a sensible approach to enforcing the long-standing vehicle restriction times in the town centre."
The bottom line: Just a couple of weeks after bollards were installed to physically block unauthorised vehicles from the town centre, a gap in the barriers on Queen Street is already giving drivers a way through, though officers continue to issue penalty notices to those caught.
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