Santa Clara River Trail Final Master Plan - Development Services ...

Chapter 6: Design Guidelines, Maintenance Schedules and Best Practices
Trail Design Features
In addition to trail surface material, there are many other design elements that range from essential to the
development of the trail, to amenities that benefit trail users and minimize trail impacts. This section
addresses those features.
Access Control
Bollards
Bollards are an effective way of keeping motor vehicle traffic off of trails (Figure 10). They are relatively
inexpensive and should be installed to be removed or should be flexible to allow passage of maintenance
or emergency vehicles. Solid bollards that are secured to the base with a lock should use combination
locks only. A single bollard located in the center of a trail entrance can be enough to keep cars out while
multiple closely spaced bollards or bollards with a chain in between may be used to separate a path from
a parallel roadway.
Minimize the use of bollards to avoid creating obstacles for bicyclists. Bollards, particularly solid
bollards, have caused serious injury to bicyclists. Instead, design the path entry and use signage to alert
drivers that motor vehicles are prohibited. Bollards also are used to slow down cyclists approaching a
street crossing.
Flexible bollards and posts are designed to give way on impact and can be used instead of steel or solid
posts (see Figure 11). These bollards are typically made of plastic that is bolted to the roadway and bend
and return to their original position when hit. They are intended to deter access, but allow vehicles
through in an emergency.
Bollards typically are installed using one of two
methods:
1) The bollard is set into concrete footing in the
ground (see Figure 11).
2) The bollard is attached to the surface by
mechanical means (bolting the bollards or
using epoxy glue and bolts (see Figure 12).
Figure 10. Bollards are used at road crossings
to keep motor vehicle traffic off trails.
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