A Swansea car park descended into chaos with some motorists stuck there for up to two hours or more trying to leave. Parc Tawe, on the eastern edge of Swansea city centre, is home to a range of shops and visitor attractions, from the Odeon cinema and Plantasia tropical house to an Aldi supermarket, Denny's pancake house, and Costa Coffee.
Earlier this week the latest attraction, a Ninja Warrior UK adventure park, opened its doors for the first time. You can take look inside the Ninja Warrior centre here.
For many years there was only one way in and one way out of Parc Tawe, and there have been problems in the past with queues of drivers trying to exit. But in 2021 Swansea Council gave permission for a second entrance-only access point into the site from Quay Parade.
However, it seems the infrastructure is still struggling to cope with the sheer number of visitors arriving by car, and with the less-than-summery weather driving people to seek indoor entertainment on Sunday, July 24, the car park pretty much ground to a halt according to reports from motorists.
READ MORE: The history of Parc Tawe, from dry dock and lorry park to retail and leisure attraction
Amongst those trapped in the "chaos" was Elin Jones who was left struggling just to exit her parking bay for 40 minutes as traffic around her vehicle was gridlocked. Having visited Tenpin bowling and Dirty Fries Company with friends, Elin was left concerned about being fined after eventually exiting the car park two hours over the allocated three hour period.
Parc Tawe car park is monitored by Alliance Parking, a parking management authority which states on signs people can park for three hours for free unless making use of facilities offered by the retail park - venues can offer up to 12 hours of free parking for customers by taking down their car registration.
"I enquired about being fined for overstaying and they told me I would need to appeal and provide evidence for using the facilities, I asked if they could help with camera footage to show how long I was stuck there for and they said they were unable to do so. I was stuck not being able to move and it just showcases how badly designed their car park is, the new turning in entrance outside of ALDI does no benefit to anyone, it creates more traffic in the car park and it was gridlocked" said Elin.
Other frustrated motorists also reported queuing for three-quarters-of-an-hour or more just to find a space, while those lucky enough to bag a parking spot said it was taking up to an hour to get out of the car park.
Another of those caught up in the car "chaos" was Nicky Thomas who took a family trip to Ninja Warrior UK. He said they spent an hour trying to exit the Parc Tawe car park, and the chaos had made him think twice about whether he would return.
He said: "The car park was chaos. It took nearly an hour to get out, and it spoilt what was a nice trip to Ninja Warrior and Treatz. It’s ridiculous that the council has now got two entries, and only one exit. Getting out of the car park has been an issue for many years and why they introduced another entrance I will never know. The situation will certainly make us think twice about visiting again."
Mr Thomas said that while it was just a frustration for families like his, being stuck in a car for an hour could be more serious for those with health issues.
Parc Tawe management said that the retail park had become a victim of its own success, saying the priority was to benefit customers making use of the facilities located there.
As one of the few remaining areas for free parking in Swansea, managers said there were challenges shifting visitor behaviour away from using the site for a means of their own parking for the city centre. They said there were over 148 signs, and instructions and rules were clear that the car park was for users of the Parc Tawe facilities only.
They said they were considering switching to just two hours free parking to act as a deterrent. They also added that measures had been taken to alleviate the problems, with increased traffic light intervals, and that all bonafide users of the site would not be fined as long as they provided sufficient evidence.
WalesOnline has approached Alliance Parking for comment.
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