Bollards on the roadway – a practice that is not common in European metropolises – are installed to prevent illegal parking and speed up traffic. On the ground – on the streets of Podgorica, the picture is much different. Conditioned by the awareness of drivers.
"As for this measure, it gives good results in conditions where the world of drivers regarding illegal parking is at a very low level. If we don't want bollards that greatly spoil the appearance of our streets and our entire city, we need to change people's awareness. These drivers need to understand that illegal parking creates major problems in traffic," said traffic engineer Vladimir Ilić.
When vehicles are parked illegally and bollards block the way, traffic becomes risky – especially for emergency services. However, experts indicate that in practice, bollards have sometimes met expectations, and sometimes not.
"The advantage would be, specifically if we are talking about this road, George Washington Boulevard, I certainly think that the measure has contributed to the reduction of illegal parking. On the other hand, we have a huge problem with vehicles with priority of passage - ambulances. In crowded conditions, ambulances cannot pass through the middle of the road, which would be the case if it were not for those columns. The problem is caused by utility vehicles. Vehicles that empty containers have to stop where they stop and as a rule, large lines of vehicles form behind them," Ilić points out.
He says that the problem of illegal parking will not be completely solved by bollards on the roadway. The problem is the lack of control and sanctions.
"We often have a situation where drivers park illegally and sit in a nearby cafe to drink coffee. Why is that - because they know that they will not be fined for their illegal parking. What needs to be worked on is increasing the presence of traffic police on our streets and roads," he says.
Ilić also lists other measures to improve traffic culture.
"We need to work with children from a young age. We need to introduce the subject of traffic education in primary schools, in order to have long-term effects in terms of these improvements," he concludes.
However, although many streets in Podgorica have bollards, the number of illegally parked vehicles is increasing, so traffic jams have long been a frequent feature of the capital city.
