Gridlock and fuming drivers as West Orchards car park chaos strands Christmas shoppers

[dutchman]

Motorists waited for up to an hour and a half to escape West Orchards shopping mall's car park



Traffic chaos has taken hold for hours around the West Orchards shopping centre in Coventry city centre this afternoon.

Long queues, irate drivers, blaring horns and general confusion have been part of the nightmare in and around the mall’s car park and its exit onto Corporation Street.

Motorists have had to wait for up to an hour and a half just to exit the multi-storey facility and crawl 500 metres along the access road back onto the junction.

Many complained about a lack of warning, and signage, indicating that temporary traffic lights are hampering progress at the Corporation Street junction by the Belgrade.

One woman told CoventryLive she had moved just three inches in an hour - and then given up, re-parked and gone back inside the shopping centre.

The snarl-ups lasted for at least four hours from this morning into the afternoon, with West Orchards and street team works in high-vis jackets trying to direct traffic as best they could.

Eventually, the car park was closed to motorists but has now re-opened after Upper Well Street was closed to traffic.

Andy Talbot, director of West Orchards, said:"Unfortunately, it was a perfect storm: Christmas shoppers and a collapsed sewer."

It is not the first time out-of-control queues have formed at the shopping centre.

Shoppers have faced misery trying to get out already several times this month.

It has also happened in previous years, with many - including the centre's management - blaming the zebra crossings just outside the car park for the delays.

CoventryLive has approached West Orchards and Coventry City Council for comment.

[rebbonk]

...it was a perfect storm...

Yeah, course it was. It happens every year!