Bollards Around Pit Are Still Often Down
By Jessica Floyd

We started our video diary two weeks ago—and spot-checked this set of bollards between Wilson and the undergrad libraries nearly three dozen times.

Only twice were all of the bollards up. This spot is only about 200 yards from the Pit—and that makes some students, such as Britney Ballard, nervous.

“Yes, I’ve noticed the barriers have been down. I wish they would put them up and be more cautious of the people that were there because we are nervous.”

When barriers are down there’s more than enough room for vehicles to get through. Take a look at this large construction vehicle and how easily it can get on to campus.

Now, some barriers—like these near Lenoir—are up the way they should be. But some places on campus don’t have ANY barriers at all.—leaving the area completely open for a vehicle to get through.

There’s been some confusion about who’s supposed to put the bollards back up. DPS spokesman Randy Young said,

“We just don’t talk about operations per se.”
“ That I wouldn’t know…I’m sorry.”
“ I don’t know.”

Jim Alty is the Director of Grounds for UNC and he says, “What’s certainly come to light with the pit incident is that people are more sensitive to making sure the bollards stay up at all times.”

But Ballard says that’s not always the case, “Right after the Pit incident I did notice them down probably a day or two after. Every time I walk by I do look at them and most of the time they are down.”

Alty says the bollards have been down frequently because of construction work in the Pit Area. But he says campus safety comes first and it’s his department that’s responsible for putting the barriers back in place.

“Keeping the bollards up is very important to us as a department to protect the security of the students, the staff and the faculty that use the area. We welcome anybody contacting us to let us know if they see them down then we can get them up as soon as possible.”