Particle diffusion is modified by the presence of barriers. In cells macro-molecules, behaving as obstacles, slow down the dynamics so that the mean-square displacement of molecules grows with time as a power law with exponent smaller than one. In different situations, such as grain and pedestrian dynamics, it can happen that an obstacle can accelerate the dynamics. In the framework of very basic models, we study the time needed by particles to cross a strip for different bulk dynamics and discuss the effect of obstacles. We find that in some regimes such a residence time is not monotonic with respect to the size and the position of the obstacles. We can then conclude that, even in very elementary systems where no interaction among particles is considered, obstacles can either slow down or accelerate the particle dynamics depending on their geometry and position.