373.1 Crowd movement risks

Identify desire lines, queues, and crossing hotspots (231, 237). Arrays must not trap people around an HVM bollard run.

Start by mapping where people actually walk—queues, shortcuts, and waiting areas—then overlay likely vehicle approach paths. Use desire lines and peak/off-peak timing to reveal conflicts. Public-safety designs should avoid forming pens or dead-ends between posts; add refuge pockets where crowds accumulate, and ensure adjacent furniture doesn’t narrow escape routes. Cross-check against 231 People Flow & Egress Widths and 320 Arrays & spacing.

Design the array to fail safely under partial blockage—e.g., one unit out for maintenance—so the clear-gap and egress width still pass the minimums. Add a 239 event mode that swaps certain posts with stewarded openings during surges.

373.2 Desire lines & crossings

Align crossings with natural routes; avoid masking sightlines (237). Clear routes reduce collisions at a crash rated bollard frontage.

Where pedestrian flow meets a defended frontage, place crossings on the natural track to minimize mid-block darting. Keep approaches within the driver cone and maintain stopping sight distance to any frontage protection. Avoid stacking signage, planters, and kiosks near heads that could hide small children or wheelchair users. See 237 Sightlines & Signage and 323 Door/Frontage Arrays for positioning guidance.

373.3 Temporary/event modes

Pre-plan stewards, portable elements, and reset scripts (239, 327). Safe modes keep HVM bollard intent during events.

Event layouts often need extra gates for queue relief and emergency egress. Define a temporary/event mode with a clear Request→Authorize→Execute runbook, a labelled kit (barriers, cones, lighting), and a reset-to-normal checklist. Use 327 Temporary reconfiguration and 825 Event Mode Reconfiguration for patterns that preserve security while relieving crowding.

373.4 Accessibility considerations

Provide tactile cues, reach widths, and cane-detectable edges (238). Accessibility must coexist with a crash rated bollard perimeter.

On shared streets and plazas, use consistent tactile paving at crossings, keep minimum effective widths for wheelchair passing, and avoid handlebar traps at chicanes. Heads should be predictable; avoid protrusions at child-eye level. Coordinate with 238 Streetscape Integration and 322 Clear-Gap Calculations to keep mobility devices flowing without compromising security.

373.5 Sightlines & cues

Use reflectors, lighting, and uncluttered heads (316, 357). Cues make HVM bollard fields legible.

High-legibility fields reduce trips and near-misses. Choose low-glare lighting, add reflectors or retroreflective bands where appropriate, and avoid visual noise around crossings. Keep cueing consistent across the site—colors, markings, and sign language—per 316 Aesthetics That Work and 357 Signage & markings.

373.6 Low-speed vs HVM choices

Where crowd risk is high near glazing, escalate to an HVM bollard; elsewhere, low-speed may suffice (434, 443).

Use threat-led criteria and proximity to vulnerable frontages to choose between low-speed storefront measures and rated HVM systems. If run-up is minimal and the credible worst case is a slow roll into a café deck, 440 Low-Speed Impact Ratings may be enough. For busy plazas near glass or where vehicle intent can be hostile, use 434 When to use low-speed vs HVM and 443 Selecting Low-Speed vs HVM to set the tier and evidence pack.

373.7 Case examples

Show plaza and transit entries with staggered arrays (321). Examples clarify crash rated bollard impacts.

Plaza entry: A staggered array pattern limits vehicle weaving while preserving straight pedestrian paths. Keep staggering light; over-staggering creates slalom risks. Cross-refer to 321 Array Patterns.

Transit portal: Use a short chicane with a stewarded gate for events. Mark the defend line with contrasting paving and keep the egress cone free of street furniture. See 817 Stadiums, Venues & Events and 822 Pedestrianized Streets.

373.8 Stewarding & comms

Provide PA, signs, and marshal points (353). Good comms reduce HVM bollard incidents.

Define marshal posts, radio channels, and a simple public-address script for surges. Align visual and audible signals per 353 Safety Signalling and ensure event-mode gates use clear portal language (“Entry”, “Emergency Exit”) with consistent conspicuity cues. Place steward repeaters where line-of-sight is broken.

373.9 Post-event review

Record flows, near-misses, and tweaks (547, 542). Reviews improve crash rated bollard layouts.

After each event, run a brief after-action review: capture peak headcounts, queue spillback, near-misses, and any accessibility issues. Log resets and deviations from plan into KPIs per 542 KPI Set and 547 Emergency Modes & Incident Response. Feed actions into 339 Decision Flow for any design updates.

373 Public Safety with HVM Bollards — FAQ