Letter: Lessons must be learnt from traffic chaos at soapbox race in Belfast on Sunday
A letter from Wallace Thompson:
The organisers of the Red Bull soapbox race event at Stormont on Sunday were in many ways the victims of their own success.
The event was attended and enjoyed by huge crowds, but the resultant traffic chaos was probably the worst I have seen in my 43 years as a resident in the Stormont area.
Apart from traffic queues, the poor parking on several side roads caused significant blockages.
Drivers faced gridlock and when they could move on the side roads, they had the stressful challenge of attempting to edge their way past parked vehicles, with the risk of resultant damage.
It would have been impossible for emergency services to access the Upper Newtownards Road/Kings Road area.
At one stage I rang the police when I learned that a neighbour needed to take her mother to hospital.
Churches were also adversely impacted by the confusion, with people struggling to get home from morning worship.
Access to and from a place of worship on a Sunday is a fundamental human right but, with an increasing number of sporting and social events being held on Sundays, it is becoming a more frequent problem.
I know this race only takes place at Stormont very rarely - the last one seemingly was 2008 - and it lasted only a few hours, but the organisers of any public event have a responsibility to ensure proper event management.
This does not seem to have happened on this occasion, and lessons must be learned.
Wallace Thompson, Belfast 5