Easter shoppers face traffic chaos as they are forced to abandon their cars after being stuck in three-hour queues to leave a multi-storey ‘due to council controlled lights outside exits’
- St Davids Shopping Centre in Cardiff blamed the queues on council traffic lights
- People voiced their anger on Twitter at being stuck in the car park for hours
Hundreds of drivers were trapped for up to three hours in a Cardiff multi-storey car park amid Easter bank holiday chaos yesterday.
Some shoppers even chose to abandon their cars at St Davids Shopping Centre and opt for taxis home.
A spokesperson for the centre claimed the disruption was due to heavy traffic outside and the ‘council-controlled traffic lights’ not prioritising the car park.
People took to Twitter to voice their concerns over the amount of time they were trapped, saying they had left on foot to pick up food and water due to the immense queues.
There were reports of queues as early as 2.30pm, and by 4pm some people had already been waiting for an hour to leave the car park.
Footage showed drivers stuck in three hour queues while trying to leave the car park in Cardiff
There were reports of queues as early as 2.30pm, and by 4pm some people had already been waiting for an hour to leave the car park
But a clip taken outside the car park appeared to show the traffic was not that heavy.
It wasn’t until 8.30pm that the centre spokesperson confirmed the car park had cleared and those who had left their vehicles could return to collect them.
A video was shared online of the chaos inside the six-storey car park, which has 2,000 spaces.
Drivers were heard honking their horns in frustration and a line of stationery cars could be seen.
The person taking the video moves around the car park to show the queues of cars waiting to pass through, while the horn beeping continues.
READ MORE: ‘Nightmare’ queues form at Dover amid Good Friday getaway chaos as 17million drivers prepare to get behind the wheel for Easter bank holiday weekend leaving motorways gridlocked and rail passengers face major disruption
None of the cars appear to be moving, and those that do are only able to crawl.
One person allegedly stuck inside the centre shared a video of the traffic outside on Twitter, writing: ‘@StDavidsCardiff how can you say that the roads outside are gridlocked???
‘I’ve been stuck for 2 hours so far on level 6 and still not moved. Just been outside to get supplies and this is the current roads…’
In response, the shopping centre said: ‘The congestion has been steadily easing, however the council-controlled traffic lights are still only letting traffic out of the car park very slowly.
‘We have asked the council to change the lights to prioritise letting people out of the car park.’
Tony Woolway, from Cardiff, told Wales Online he had been waiting for three hours to leave the car park.
‘It was gridlock. Nothing was moving. We went 30 yards in two hours and we were on the sixth floor.’
He said he had rang the carp park and was told the gridlock was due to traffic lights controlled by the council staying red for too long, not allowing people out. He was advised to leave and come back later.
One 26-year-old woman told Wales Online she had arrived 2.30pm and there was already a queue.
A clip taken outside the car park appeared to show the traffic was not that heavy, despite claims this was a reason for the queues
One person allegedly stuck inside the centre shared a video of the traffic outside on Twitter, writing: ‘@StDavidsCardiff how can you say that the roads outside are gridlocked???’ In response, the shopping centre said: ‘The congestion has been steadily easing, however the council-controlled traffic lights are still only letting traffic out of the car park very slowly’
She said: ‘I thought “Oh, that’s weird” but didn’t think anything more of it.’
But by 7pm when she arrived back at the car park, there was ‘gridlock all the way up’, with horns beeping and people standing outside their vehicles.
‘There were people there with their kids in the car…it’s absolute chaos,’ she added.
‘They’ve got security on the ramp letting one person through at a time, but there must be hundreds of cars all queuing.’
She ended up getting a train back home to her family and decided to collect the car on Easter Sunday instead, which the centre had confirmed people would be able to do.
Source: Read Full Article
