Princess Street grinds to a halt during morning rush hour (From Knutsford Guardian)
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Princess Street grinds to a halt during morning rush hour
1:17pm Friday 14th September 2012 in News
By James Wilson
The Waitrose lorry on Princess Street this morning, Friday. Picture by Paul Freeman
TRAFFIC on Princess Street ground to a standstill during this morning's rush hour – with a combination of a delivery truck and road works taking the blame.
The usual morning delivery to Waitrose on Friday, September 14, at 8am caused a bit more of a nuisance this week.
A delivery van from Woods Butchers had been busy unloading goods to the shop on Princess Street but after being passed by the lorry from the supermarket giant, it then found itself stuck as a result.
Motorists trying to get down the road – which is currently being affected by the gas main works – were left stranded for around 30 minutes with queues heading down Tatton Street.
Frustrations began to boil over for some drivers with horns blaring and angry words exchanged.
Ian Fletcher told the Guardian: “I was heading to Sainsburys and parked on Canute Place near Barnardos, it was horrendous.
“Cars were just stuck and I think it was the Waitrose lorry that was the cause.
“The butchers had a delivery too but they were parked near Johnsons so I don’t think that helped it either.
“I did a diversion up Green Street because it was a standstill.”
Paul Freeman, of Glebelands Road, who took the picture for the Guardian, added: “The drivers in the queue were on the horns and shouting comments to the butchers.
“The traffic was at a standstill and gridlocked the area back towards Tatton Park.”
Waitrose told the Guardian on Friday afternoon that it could understand the frustrations of drivers who were stuck in the traffic.
“We just need people to work with us when we have got the road works outside,” he said.
“It’s not great for us either.”
Woods told the Guardian that its delivery driver couldn’t get out of the way after the Waitrose van had pulled up in front of the shop.
Comments(1)
whitevanman
says...
10:01pm Fri 14 Sep 12
“We just need people to work with us when we have got the road works outside,” he said."
What a load of rubbish, I was near the front of that queue. The Waitrose driver just pulled up past the Woods lorry, blocking it in, and proceeded to unload in a leisurely manner. He kept looking back at us motorists with that "what! me!" look, totally oblivious to the carnage he was causing. If the manager of Waitrose had an ounce of sense, he would have told the driver to go round the block until the Woods delivery had cleared.
This loading bay should not be here, it was the result of a lack of planning when the store opened. Most mornings I have to slalom past the truck and the BMW X5 (to whom the rules of the road don't apply) parked on the double yellows as he goes for his morning coffee. If Waitrose are going to continue to use it, try getting your lorry to arrive at some time other than the 08:00-09:00 school run rush hour.
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