Beware Xmas parking in Corrib SC

Eviledna

Want to warn people about our catastrophic parking experience in the Corrib Shopping Centre yesterday. Town was packed, got a space on the top level at 4.30. Came back an hour later at 5.30 to find a solid line of traffic all the way down from the top level to the exit, no cars moving, no way to pull out.

Anyone coming back to their cars couldn't get into the queue, no one would let anyone out, either within the carpark or outside at the exit. After 45 minutes waiting to even get into the queue, I got out of the car and went down to talk to security. There only seemed to be two people managing the whole carpark. They said there was nothing they could do, gridlock down to woodquay and no-one would turn right up to bohermore. I asked had they called the guards to direct traffic and they said no point, I asked had they closed the carpark so that others could decend the incoming ramp to turn up bohermore, they said the manager wouldn't allow it.

Many people with kids in cars stuck for an hour at this stage. No movement and practically no communications from parking management. I called millstreet station to ask if a guard could come up to help, they said no way, too busy.

Tl:dr, it took 1.5 hours to exit that carpark yesterday evening.

So a warning this side of Christmas to anyone with kids (or normal levels of patience), think twice about parking in the Corrib SC unless you want to camp there overnight! They have a serious bottleneck in their exit and don't seem to have the staff or permission from management to manage it at all.

Fey!

Presumably you paid for your parking and got your ticket before you went back to your car; did it still work when you got to the gate, or did you have to find a machine and pay again? (There's usually a 10-15 minute gap after you pay your ticket to get to your car and leave the carpark).

Berty

That, OP, is why I get my Christmas shopping done in Early November and gets the things closer to Christmas by the power of the Internet. On Street Parking is one way to go. Patrolling the streets for a space. You need mucho patience for that as well.

Fey! wrote: »

Presumably you paid for your parking and got your ticket before you went back to your car; did it still work when you got to the gate, or did you have to find a machine and pay again? (There's usually a 10-15 minute gap after you pay your ticket to get to your car and leave the carpark).

Surely they would honour this by having somebody there to press a button to let you out. My ticket didn't work in Dundrum Town Centre 3 weeks ago and I had to press the button on the pay machine as it wouldn't read my ticket.

Guy says "What time is on your ticket"
"12:30pm"
"Right deposit €4"

Missus says

"Why didn't you say 3:30pm"
"Doh"

Das Kitty

Eviledna wrote: »

Want to warn people about our catastrophic parking experience in the Corrib Shopping Centre yesterday. Town was packed, got a space on the top level at 4.30. Came back an hour later at 5.30 to find a solid line of traffic all the way down from the top level to the exit, no cars moving, no way to pull out.

Anyone coming back to their cars couldn't get into the queue, no one would let anyone out, either within the carpark or outside at the exit. After 45 minutes waiting to even get into the queue, I got out of the car and went down to talk to security. There only seemed to be two people managing the whole carpark. They said there was nothing they could do, gridlock down to woodquay and no-one would turn right up to bohermore. I asked had they called the guards to direct traffic and they said no point, I asked had they closed the carpark so that others could decend the incoming ramp to turn up bohermore, they said the manager wouldn't allow it.

Many people with kids in cars stuck for an hour at this stage. No movement and practically no communications from parking management. I called millstreet station to ask if a guard could come up to help, they said no way, too busy.

Tl:dr, it took 1.5 hours to exit that carpark yesterday evening.

So a warning this side of Christmas to anyone with kids (or normal levels of patience), think twice about parking in the Corrib SC unless you want to camp there overnight! They have a serious bottleneck in their exit and don't seem to have the staff or permission from management to manage it at all.

It's been like that for years at busy times, I got stuck in there once a couple of years ago for about 2 hours. The next time it happened I decided that there was nothing I could do about it and just took the baby and went to get dinner in town, I knew from before that stressing about not being able to get the car out was only going to get me (and him) in a state. When I got back I just told the security guy at the gate that I paid to come out during the busy time but I couldn't get out and they lifted the barrier for me.

I rarely go in there now if it's busy in town or I intend on leaving before 6pm.

Tis maddening though.

BhoscaCapall

What were all the Gardaí in Galway City doing at 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon that was so important I wonder :?

BhoscaCapall

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

What were all the Gardaí in Galway City doing at 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon that was so important I wonder :?

I don't know but if they were being used to direct traffic in a car park I wouldn't be impressed.

snubbleste

Not another thread about motorists obstructing each other! :cool:

ronnie3585

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

What were all the Gardaí in Galway City doing at 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon that was so important I wonder :?

Fighting crime, and so forth.

antoobrien

snubbleste wrote: »

Not another thread about motorists obstructing each other! :cool:

Nah, looks more like a thread about how the inadequate facilities for motorists are to the detriment of business (hence employment) in Galway.

ScumLord

I would have flipped out being stuck in a shopping centre for that amount of time. If the management where doing nothing to get their customers out I would have started accusing them of holding me hostage and all sorts.

Mrs OBumble

Park and ride details.

My sympathies if you came from the west side of town, perhaps lobby the council for a service on the west too.

Sponge Bob

You would have to be MAD to go into Galway at 4:30 on one of the maddest shopping days of the year because the place is PURE MAD so it is, MAD!!!!

I left town at 4:30 because I couldn't put up with the MAD anymore, that and it started raining anyway, and gently strolled to my car which was parked all day in Sea Road...for free. I was atin me tay by 5:30...in comfort.

swine

snubbleste wrote: »

Not another thread about motorists obstructing each other! :cool:

No thread regarding cars in Galway would be complete without snubbleste pointing out they dont drive.

Sniipe

ScumLord wrote: »

I would have flipped out being stuck in a shopping centre for that amount of time. If the management where doing nothing to get their customers out I would have started accusing them of holding me hostage and all sorts.

I don't think they could do anything as the exit from the shopping center to the main road was grid locked.

ben.schlomo

Sniipe wrote: »

I don't think they could do anything as the exit from the shopping center to the main road was grid locked.

Exactly. What should they do lift cars out of the way i suppose to let out the poor shoppers!! :rolleyes:

Eviledna

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know but if they were being used to direct traffic in a car park I wouldn't be impressed.

Ah now in fairness no-one was asking them to direct traffic in a car park, rather to direct the traffic on a road that due to poor planning and bad management was obstructing ~1000 people from moving anywhere at all!! Lots of out-of-towners in for the day spending their money in local businesses (what we need!) left with a very bad taste of Galway. There's something inherently claustrophobic about that many cars, all exhausts running stuck together in a tiny building like that. Many distressed mammys and daddys to be seen. T'would have taken a traffic cop about 30 minutes to help divert the traffic at the exit to reduce the gridlock.

Of course it was always going to be busy at 4.30 at Xmas, yes I take the park and ride point, but to be honest no other car park in Galway city is as badly run in my experience. The exit to that carpark is a bottleneck by design, and I just wanted to warn any parents out there about it, Christmas spirit and all.:)
To be clear, no one was charged extra, the barrier was up and tickets collected by hand. Which was little comfort to alot of people. They wouldn't want to have tried to charge more!

Lol @ ScumLord, held hostage is exactly how it felt! Would dread to think what they'd have done if someone went into labour or something- "No point in calling the ambulance love, they're too busy. Sure just deliver it yourself there, good lass."

Eviledna

Sniipe wrote: »

I don't think they could do anything as the exit from the shopping center to the main road was grid locked.

Oh they could have stopped people still coming into the carpark, they could have directed people (safely!) down the up ramps, divert them down bohermore (Which was clear) and everyone could have gone home. There simply wasn't enough carpark staff to manage that though.

The guards could also have closed the street beside debenahms to oncoming traffic, reverse the flow so exiting carparkers could drive down onto eyre square which was also relatively clear. Gridlock was purely on the hill (the left turn upon exit, down to woodquay). I've seen worse cleared quickly by traffic guards in a fraction of the time. But they were too busy, which is probably fair enough considering budget cuts, sunday staffing and jurisdictional ambiguity.

Just sucked for everyone stuck in there.

Robbo

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You would have to be MAD to go into Galway at 4:30 on one of the maddest shopping days of the year because the place is PURE MAD so it is, MAD!!!!

I left town at 4:30 because I couldn't put up with the MAD anymore, that and it started raining anyway, and gently strolled to my car which was parked all day in Sea Road...for free. I was atin me tay by 5:30...in comfort.

Have they gone and made more free parking spaces on Sea Road again? Splendid.

Head The Wall

It's not surprising that in Galway when given a choice of turning into traffic or an open road the thickos keep choosing the traffic jam option instead of going another way around to their destination. I understand the people not at the exit don't have this option but it seems like the people that were coming out weren't helping the situation

Head The Wall

Robbo wrote: »

Have they gone and made more free parking spaces on Sea Road again? Splendid.

All paid council parking is free on Sundays and most evenings after 6:30

Eviledna

It's not surprising that in Galway when given a choice of turning into traffic or an open road the thickos keep choosing the traffic jam option instead of going another way around to their destination. I understand the people not at the exit don't have this option but it seems like the people that were coming out weren't helping the situation

^ True, much to the dispair of the 2 visible staff, to the point that every car was asked to turn right. Which is what eventually got us out.

Acoshla

Head The Wall wrote: »

It's not surprising that in Galway when given a choice of turning into traffic or an open road the thickos keep choosing the traffic jam option instead of going another way around to their destination. I understand the people not at the exit don't have this option but it seems like the people that were coming out weren't helping the situation

Exactly, the willingness of the masses to sit for an hour because they want to go *that* way, instead of going the other way and most likely joining up with the original route further along and doing it faster, it always astounds me.

BhoscaCapall

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know but if they were being used to direct traffic in a car park I wouldn't be impressed.

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Fighting crime, and so forth.

Is there much crime, or crimefighting going on of a Sunday afternoon?

There is a Traffic Corps for this sort of thing, but I suppose without the incentive of being able to dish out fines they wouldn't be too arsed to bother :rolleyes:

Eviledna

Eviledna wrote: »

T'would have taken a traffic cop about 30 minutes to help divert the traffic at the exit to reduce the gridlock.

Eviledna wrote: »

^ True, much to the dispair of the 2 visible staff, to the point that every car was asked to turn right. Which is what eventually got us out.

But why deploy the Gardaí when all it took was the two staff asking people to turn right?

I accept that it was frustrating for those caught in the jam.

Earlier the same day there were long queues to get into the Eyre Square shopping centre car park along the left lane of Merchants road while there were spaces in the Hynes yard carpark on the other side of the road.

I'll have to do some reading into the psychology of queueing over Christmas.

Eviledna

Deleted User wrote: »

But why deploy the Gardaí when all it took was the two staff asking people to turn right?

That wasn't all it took. I couldn't have been more clear. That approach resulted in a 1.5 hour backlog. And despite people being asked to turn right, they still did not. The Gardaí were needed to enforce a re-direct of the traffic in the entire area, to free up exits. Isn't that the job of the Traffic Corps, when they're available?

And in fairness, voluntary queues to get into a carpark are vastly different to people stuck in a queue to get out.

Sponge Bob

Now you fully understand that the scrapings of the gene pool are what park in that place of a saturday you may resolve to avoid it in future.

Eviledna

Well since I parked there, that would make me a scraping too, eh?;)

No, I'd never be so harsh, twas a load of honest shoppers, many in from the county and beyond. It's a prime example of bad planning coupled with bad management on a bad day for everyone involved. But yes it does serve as a warning to not park there on a Sunday. Or ever again.