Completely pedestrianising a whole street may not seem like much of a challenge, but it is one that has left authorities in Nanjing scratching their heads in frustration for some time. That was until now. And the solution was devastatingly simple.
We’re talking once again about those pesky, maniacal take-out delivery guys, and our local governments’ efforts to separate their suicidal e-bike riding behaviour from the largely innocent on two feet.
The problem is rife all over Nanjing, but some places have been more proactive. Of particular concern are those near large residential areas where there is a lot of foot traffic around food stalls and restaurants in the evening hours.
Leshang Tiandi off Shengtai Xi Lu in Moling Subdistrict of Jiangning District is one such place.
But last time we reported on this issue, it was the spherical concrete bollards that had caught our attention.
The problem was that the bollards, placed across access points, were simply moved in the middle of the night by delivery riders operating in consort. The answer then was to cement the bollards in place and post a security guard to quite literally watch the cement dry.
But it was only half a solution, for the area has also long been supposedly protected from e-bike invasion by staggered steel railings. Theoretically, only pedestrians can pass though into the inner sanctum (and their kebabs).
But your average Nanjing e-bike rider would also likely be able to drive a bus through that gap.
And so it was that local authorities yesterday simply pulled up one set of the railings and then sunk them back into the pavement 15cm closer to its parallel partner. No way on Earth is an e-bike getting through there.
But spare a thought for all those in the inner sanctum (residents and kebab-stall owners) whose e-bikes are now trapped therein, possibly forever more. It will take either the world’s strongest man or a crane to now jailbreak them to freedom.
Despite this, the solution was both simple and genius. With no more e-bikes tooting their way through swarms of food-stall goers, the popular evening draw for the hungry has become a safer and much more peaceful place to be, overnight.
