A motorist drove over a downtown traffic bollard Wednesday, June 23, snapping at its base the black metal pole placed in the middle of the crosswalk at the intersection of Market Avenue and 2nd Street.
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The city installed the bollard on May 15, when Market Avenue was closed to vehicle traffic as part of the Downtown Business Association’s Market-on-Market initiative. The bollard was left in place after June 15, when city council voted to open Market Avenue Sundays through Thursdays.
Witnesses said they saw a late-model white Chevrolet truck run over the bollard at around noon, Wednesday. The truck bore a yellow tag marked “IFP” above its front licence plate, they added.
The bollard became lodged in the truck’s undercarriage, prompting the driver to hop out of the vehicle. The driver, said to be a woman in her early 40s with dark, curly hair, then helped three bystanders dislodge the bollard and fit the misshapen pole back into place.
Witnesses said the driver then checked for fluid leaks and, finding none, drove away.
A city worker loaded the bollard onto a dump truck at around 12:30 p.m. The city has no replacement bollards, they told The Gazette.
The worker said a motorist had recently taken out a second bollard at Market Avenue and 3rd Street.
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