Liverpool City Region's cycling boss and one of the key promoters of Liverpool's Car Free Day has labelled yesterday's event as "chaos."
Former Brookside actor Simon O'Brien is the cycling and walking commissioner for the Liverpool City Region. He is a key face for promoting active travel around the region.
Mr O'Brien had led the promotion of yesterday's events in Liverpool, designed to run alongside World Car Free day. This involved closing a large section of The Strand - one of Liverpool's busiest roads - from 10am until 4pm.
READ MORE: What do you think went wrong with Liverpool car free day?
It wasn't long before the Liverpool event started to experience problems. Huge queues of traffic were spotted all around the city centre as vehicles being diverted away from The Strand got snarled up. Some reported being stuff in jams for hours.
As the chaos continued to unfold and complaints came in from all angles, the council made a decision to end the planned closure around two hours early. The Strand fully reopened to all traffic just after 2pm.
In a statement, the council blamed poor weather and the fact the planned activities could not take place as the key reason for cutting the event short. But it seems highly likely that the chaotic scenes around the city played a big part in the decision.
The organisation and execution of the event was heavily criticised and labelled a "disaster". Even those who campaign for fewer cars on the road said yesterday's events could actually thwart progress in this area.
Prior to the event, Mr O'Brien had praised Liverpool City Council for "sending out the right message" with The Strand closure. But he was less complimentary on twitter today.
He said: "Having considered yesterday's chaos, I think next year LCC should give more warning, make buses, trains, scooters & bikes free for day and close The Strand. We’re not stuck in traffic, we are traffic."
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