Celebrations bring traffic ‘shambles’ for motorists

Edinburgh drivers were left enraged after a park and ride used by thousands of people attending the opening of the Queensferry Crossing caused gridlock on a major route.

Hundreds of cars were brought to a standstill yesterday afternoon as daytrippers returned on coaches to Ingliston after watching the Queen open the bridge.

Passengers were delayed coming to and from Edinburgh Airport while shoppers

at the Gyle were also stuck in traffic.

One 62-year-old taxi driver caught in the gridlock criticised the decision to use Ingliston for the Queensferry Crossing park and ride.

“We’re at a standstill,” he fumed. “Nobody is coming in and nobody is getting out.

“There are hundreds of cars here – probably about a thousand. There are private hires, ordinary public cars and taxis.

“The whole area is gridlock. It was really busy this morning but nothing like this now as people come back from the crossing – it’s been chaos from about 3pm.

“They’ve come back to Ingliston but can’t get out of the car park. Whoever chose to put the crossing park and ride here, in one of the busiest parts of the city, is a clown.

“There’s only one road in and one road out. There are 40 taxis not moving and 40 private hires not moving – all losing business.”

The driver reported long queues of passengers waiting for pick-up at the airport, as well as a knock-on effect to the Gyle. “Fares in the queues are getting irate. There’s people coming back from holiday and people been shopping,” he added.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The Ingliston Park & Ride site was carefully chosen by event partners as it offered rail, tram and bus links for those travelling by public transport, sufficient capacity to accommodate the numbers attending the Royal opening and the space needed to carry out the necessary security checks demanded for an event of this kind.”