Investigation underway after €3,000 of cycle lane protective wands vanish in Cork

The 24 wands are worth between €100 and €200 each

The protective wands were installed on the inbound bike lane on Washington St last year as part of the city council's near €2m ‘Reimagining Cork’ programme. File Picture: Denis Minihane

Cork City officials have launched an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of up to €3,000 worth of protective wands from a busy bike lane in Cork city.

They have issued an appeal for anyone with information about the unauthorised removal of at least 24 wands from the inbound bike lane on Washington Street to contact them. And they said they plan to reinstall new bollards on the lane as soon as possible.

“The city council is very keen to support the increased use of cycling facilities in Cork,” director of operations, David Joyce, said.

“We made the decision to install these bollards last year. But we are not aware of them being removed for legitimate reasons.

“At this moment in time, we don’t know who removed the bollards. There might be an innocent explanation. But it would appear that they were removed without authorisation.

It is our intention to replace them as soon as we can replenish our stocks of wands.

The wands, which are worth between €100 and €200 each, were installed on the inbound bike lane on Washington St last year as part of the city council's near €2m ‘Reimagining Cork’ programme which was announced last summer as part of the council's Covid-19 recovery strategy.

It consisted of a significant pedestrianisation programme in the city centre, including the €1.5m repair of six kilometres of existing cycle lanes, the installation of bollards on four kilometres of key cycling routes, and the construction of 4.1 kilometres of cycle lanes at Centre Park and Monahan Roads, Terence MacSwiney Quay, Horgan’s Quay and Victoria Road and South Mall.

The safety bollards were installed on strategic and popular cycle lanes in the city including Alfred Street, South Main Street, the Mahon Link, Western Road, Rossa Avenue, Ballincollig and on Washington Street.

Some wands have been damaged in minor collisions, but this is the first time the city has seen the mass disappearance of wands along a particular route.

Mr Joyce said the matter hasn’t been referred to gardaí at this stage but he urged anyone with information about what happened to the wands to contact City Hall.