City of Cambridge to remove underground bollards on Dickson Street

The City of Cambridge will be removing several defunct underground bollards in front of city hall after being installed over 10 years ago.

Hardy Bromberg, the deputy city manager for Cambridge, said the large steel posts that come out of the ground never worked since being installed in 2014 when Dickson Street was rebuilt. The goal of having them was to help create a public space for events.

“The idea was that we didn’t always have these wooden road closure signs and was more professional and heavy-duty to prevent vehicular traffic,” said Bromberg.

He notes the city came to a confidential settlement with the contractor back in 2021.

Bromberg said they are finally coming out this year because Dickson Street was identified as a road that was at the right stage to be replaced as part of their pavement maintenance program.

“That prevents us from needing to go and shave down or repave an entire road, which becomes quite costly,” said Bromberg. The repairs will cost around $20,000, which is within the city’s operational budget for planned maintenance.

There are no plans to replace them as the city already has 12 portable road barriers that can be rolled out when needed. Some of the events that are held in the public space in front of city hall include the annual Oktoberfest and major events.

The removal is set for later this year in the early fall, but no date has been confirmed.