TRAFFIC !

[Observer II]

Traffic was mad today, only to be expected I suppose; but when I finally got into Town, it wasn't packed at all. This suggests that the traffic was passing around the Town Centre, rather than visiting it.   

[Evil Sid]

whenever traffic is bad i usually look at the time, school run, after school run rush to work, Then i will wonder if there has been any accidents or incidents on the motorways.

final resort is to try and find out if any of the ship canal bridges are closed to traffic.

if none of those options give an answer then i assume that people are travelling between supermarkets looking for bargains.

town centre has been looked on as in decline by a lot of people, "oh its just full of trendy cafes and night clubs" seems to be the opinion i have heard. "most of the place is boarded up and there are no decent shops there" is another. and then there is the ever popular there is nowhere to park and when you do find somewhere it costs a fortune"

doesn't really explain the traffic though.

[Bill]

We did our shopping on Thursday afternoon, a day earlier to try and avoid the crowds. Manchester Road was like the morning rush hour with some big queues at the lights but as it turned out there’d been an accident on the viaduct.

As we approached Sainsbury’s we were horrified to see a woman driver coming out of the entrance to the petrol station which put her on the wrong side of the dual carriageway and facing into oncoming traffic. Despite her protests, she eventually reversed and went the right way, so we assumed she’d just made a simple mistake. When we got into Sainsbury’s though we realized why she attempted to do this as the carpark was in total gridlock. It took nearly half an hour just to get to a parking spot and nearly three quarters of an hour to get out.

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

I was there at that time but didn't notice anything unusual Bill.    

[Bill]

According to your post, you were there yesterday while I was there on Thursday.

The roads were so congested that people were blockig the exits and the result was chaos on the car park.

If you were there at that time you'd have known about it. I've never seen it that bad ever!

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

Sorry Bill, but I always shop there every Thursday around 2pm, the CP was more crowded than usual, but not grid locked.   

[Bill]

I think you’re getting a bit muddled with your days Obs. You posted yesterday and said you went that day so that would have made it Friday not Thursday. I’ve just checked my receipt for Thursday, and we came out at exactly 2.28 and got out of the car park at 3.05. We were in the store for at least an hour so we would have arrived at about 1;30 and the roads in the area were solid then with people struggling to get off the car park. I doubt that woman would have tried to get out through the garage entrance under normal circumstances.

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

No Bill, Town on a Friday, Sainburys on a Thursday - breaks up the week - sad I know.  On reflection, I was later in the afternoon than usual, so maybe the worst was over ?   

[Bill]

Yep probably. The traffic on the way back was nowhere near as bad as it was going. The highways agency reported the motorway fully reopened at 3.24 but it was probably moving again a bit before that.

And as for it being sad that you break up the week that way, shopping’s the high point of the week these days. Who’d a thunk that a few years back. 😊

 

Bill 😊