A blog to highlight Manchester’s parking clog!

A blog to highlight Manchester’s parking clog!

With the eyes of the UK fixed firmly on the debates and issues surrounding this week’s Conservative Party Conference, the people of Manchester had their own issues to tackle!

Congestion in the city centre isn’t ‘hassle-free’ at the best of times, but throw in the UK’s leading political party, multiple road closures, a train strike and a heightened police presence and you have yourself a recipe for a city of frustrated, tardy northerners. We know this, because today, we have experienced it first-hand…

For General Manager Valentina, commuting into our head office on Oxford Street doesn’t usually present many issues; however, this morning was a very different story. Having driven into the city centre, Valentina arrived at her usual car park to find it closed and all drivers diverted to a nearby alternative car park. With a few manoeuvres around the city, Valentina arrived to find this car park also closed, with a second diversion notice for an additional car park…and can you guess what happened next? Yes, you’ve got it – that was closed too. Finally, the ‘no room at the inn' saga came to a close at the fourth and final car park, where attendants were on hand to direct weary drivers to designated spaces in a timely fashion so they could be on their way.

Although vaguely comical on review (not for Valentina), why did a situation like this occur? We agree with Manchester Mayor, Andy Burham, that an effective transport system is needed to tackle congestion in the Greater Manchester area, but we also need to include parking providers within this. The car park operators in question this morning, acted swiftly and efficiently in order to manage the congestion effectively, but with better pre-planned communication from all parties, a lot more people would’ve been sat at their desks with a hot drink at 9 am.

So, the moral of the story? Always pre-book your parking where possible in order to plan ahead, and remember, even parking reservation providers fall foul of the system sometimes! Happy commuting, Manchester.