Liverpool's car free day has been branded a "disaster" as a closure of one of the city's main streets ended hours early amid chaos, complaints and bad weather.
Liverpool City Council closed a large part of The Strand to traffic this morning as part of World Car Free Day. The planned closure was due to continue until 4pm with a range of activities set to take place on the famous road. The closure of the waterfront road - from Chapel Street to James Street - was designed to encourage people to ditch their cars and find alternative ways to travel into town.
It wasn't long before problems started to arise as large queues of traffic began to build up around the city centre. Images and video of the long tailbacks were posted on social media.
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One image, shared by Tommy Joseph, showed traffic at a standstill on Tithebarn Street. He tweeted: "Surely this many cars being idle with their engines running is having the opposite effect of improving the cities air quality?"
Another Twitter user, Jonny, shared a video of a huge queue of cars on the southern part of The Strand. He said: ""Car free day" on the main road through the city. Sounds great on paper. Of course I want better air. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions; and the execution and unintended consequences are dire."
Others complained about a lack of signage or consultation for the closure. Many who have campaigned for fewer cars on the road felt the results of the day could have negative future consequences.
Cycling campaigner Andi Armitage said: "How not to do car free day. Rather than virtue signal and focus on the optics, provide albeit temporary alternatives to using a car." Fellow campaigner Mounsey added: "Nobody, nobody at all will support similar action in future years. Rather than produce something good for today, it's easier to produce something utterly rubbish. There will be nothing for car free day next year."
With complaints continuing to flood in and the poor weather getting in the way of planned activities on The Strand, the road was reopened just after 2pm today, nearly two hours earlier than intended. Twitter user Liverpool Wanderer caught the moment the closure ended, branding Liverpool's World Car Free Day a "disaster".
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: "Unfortunately due to the heavy rain many of the Car Free Day activities planned to take place on The Strand had to be called off. As a result, the decision was taken to finish the programme earlier and to reopen The Strand.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has supported today’s programme. We know a closure like this will cause some disruption, but the council is committed to improving the air quality of the city and statements like today are a way to make people think about how they travel.
“The council is also investing in more infrastructure be it cycling lanes to a new e-bike service to provide more opportunities for people to make that step towards a healthier lifestyle and a healthier environment.”
The ECHO also attempted to contact the council's cabinet member for climate change and environment, Cllr Dan Barrington, but an email response said he is on annual leave until October 12.
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