Fans in dangerous situation

[Alex MacLeod]

I heard a Hearts bus driver got arrested near the stadium. The fans had to get trains back to Edinburgh. I should say 'allegedly' as it's only word of mouth.

I was on the train and the police decided on an alcohol ban because an additional load of irate Hearts fans would be on it. Talking to Transport Police it appears that a bus was, indeed, stopped and found not to be roadworthy and with no MOT so was put of the road. The driver may have been charged. As it transpired the bus load never made it to the train.

[RiG]

I was getting the train back to Aberdeen after the match and there were a fair few Hearts fans on it. One lad was smashed and started singing about Bobby Sands and asking if he would like a chicken supper. He got off at Elgin and fell onto the platform.

[NormaStitz]

 

I heard a Hearts bus driver got arrested near the stadium. The fans had to get trains back to Edinburgh. I should say 'allegedly' as it's only word of mouth.

I was on the train and the police decided on an alcohol ban because an additional load of irate Hearts fans would be on it. Talking to Transport Police it appears that a bus was, indeed, stopped and found not to be roadworthy and with no MOT so was put of the road. The driver may have been charged. As it transpired the bus load never made it to the train.

 

According to the HMFCKickback Fans Forum:

 

"had heard a different story when speaking to people after the game PTBCAL, as we saw the police by the minivan when we came out the ground. What I had been told was that the police had been made aware there was drink on the bus, and there had been an incident on the road during the journey up (something had been thrown out of the van which hit a car behind it). However southampton jambo then said on the other thread that it was down to the driver not having a license, and he has now said it is going to court.

I have no reason whatsoever to disbelieve him, as I heard it from third parties, but I'm not sure either how the police would have known the driver didn't have a license, unless they had another reason to run the bus through their systems/contact the bus operator."

 

Apparently the driver of the car behind (whose car had been hit by a bottle lobbed out of the window on the A9) had reported this to the police and the van got intercepted at the ground.

Edited September 4, 2013 by NormaStitz

[izzy]

I have been crossing the Kessock Bridge regular for years and have never been aware of an underpass .I will be looking out for it today when its safe to do so of course!! Like OCG says says you learn something everyday. I don't think there are any signs to say its there or maybe I just haven't seen them but then again that's adding a few yards to the journey and how many would use it....The simple solution is back to basics ..turn of lights for couple of hours and have police at roundabout....Simple !!!!

[L_G]

Coming from town and along past the College, Halfords, Tiso etc, the footpath is signposted to take a left before reaching the roundabout.  It's not an underpass but an alternative route which goes past Bookers and The Courier office and then round the shore

[bobbyjag]

So the underpass is called stadium road

[caley100]

Aye, and would put about 20 extra minutes onto your journey (if walking) the roundabout is a shambles, but dont hold your breath for any changes from TS they sure dont like to admit being wrong.

[izzy]

I did see a railing today which I assume was the entrance to the underpass ,so where does that take you out at ?

I can't believe I've driven past it hundreds of times and never noticed it , that said it does look quite overgrown .

It's not that far from roundabout but probably too far for fans to bother taking that extra few yards at whatever cost.

[izzy]

I did see a railing today which I assume was the entrance to the underpass ,so where does that take you out at ?

I can't believe I've driven past it hundreds of times and never noticed it , that said it does look quite overgrown .

It's not that far from roundabout but probably too far for fans to bother taking that extra few yards at whatever cost.

This is on bridge not path LG mentions .

[caley100]

I did see a railing today which I assume was the entrance to the underpass ,so where does that take you out at ?

I can't believe I've driven past it hundreds of times and never noticed it , that said it does look quite overgrown .

It's not that far from roundabout but probably too far for fans to bother taking that extra few yards at whatever cost.

The path/railing you noticed(heading north about 200 mtrs from r/bout)takes you down onto a path which leads out just at the courier office, from there its a walk along the pavement under the bridge to the stadium.

I just wonder if it may be worthwhile for the club to consider running a bus from the bus station for a couple of quid to save people walking there and avoid having the dangerous roundabout?

[L_G]

 

I did see a railing today which I assume was the entrance to the underpass ,so where does that take you out at ?

I can't believe I've driven past it hundreds of times and never noticed it , that said it does look quite overgrown .

It's not that far from roundabout but probably too far for fans to bother taking that extra few yards at whatever cost.

The path/railing you noticed(heading north about 200 mtrs from r/bout)takes you down onto a path which leads out just at the courier office, from there its a walk along the pavement under the bridge to the stadium.

I just wonder if it may be worthwhile for the club to consider running a bus from the bus station for a couple of quid to save people walking there and avoid having the dangerous roundabout?

 

There is a bus service from the bus station 45 mins before kick off for every game :-)

[Charles Bannerman]

absolutley

Oops.... absolutELY

[PartTimer]

The traffic situation on Saturday was un-necessary and unacceptable. This was a small event with ca. 4,000 fans travelling in a few hundred vehicles. In the rest of the UK, the authorities cope regularly with 10s of thousands of fans and vehicles.

What makes Inverness different? In my view, we have too many unnecessary traffic lights. Why not switch them all off for a month and see how we get on? If I drive from the Caley club to the Castle Tavern, I pass 6 sets of lights in 500 odd metres. That must be some kind of world record!

[BA]

IMO the worst thing they ever did was installing the traffic lights at that roundabout, stopping the free flowing lane heading from the northbound carriageway into town and from the town over the bridge has caused more problems than it's solved.

Not to mention the fact that the traffic lights don't seem to change in any rational order, heading north they turn green heading onto the roundabout but are red at the ones 20 yards ahead on the roundabout.

Best thing they could do is remove the traffic lights but as someone has already pointed out there is no chance of TS admitting they got it wrong.

[Council Juice]

Well a simple and cheap solution would be for a simple clear sign marked "football crowd this way" marked with a directional arrow in said direction of the underpass/path. It's not that difficult. Or build a bridge over the A9. Simples.


And the reason councils put up traffic lights is to cause congestion, then flag a report saying congestion has went up by x%. Did it at a roundabout near my folks. 1st put in traffic lights (due to the fact that having a roundabout directly in the middle of a bypass is idiotic anyway. Then when they were working ok changed the light timings causing queues a mile back. Unless within a week there were an extra 10000 cars on the road mind. It would all have been solved with a more expenive but more permanent soluton in a bypass flyover road with slip roads.

The solution up in Inverness seems a little easier. 

Edited September 6, 2013 by iamthecaptain1

[tm4tj]

I hear what you are saying BA, and others. Unfortunately it's quite a complicated system and if you make them all change at the same time then you just transfer the problem elsewhere. I live in North Kessock and cross the bridge every day and feel that the lights do help the flow of traffic, ie you get a decent crack of the whip rather than waiting for a gap in the traffic. It might mean you are stationary for a couple of minutes, but trust me, you get plenty cars across the bridge when lights change. I can get to my work in 7 or 8 minutes, much the same as before the lights went up. It's all about choosing the correct lane now. Stay in left lane generally when crossing bridge either way, then you don't get caught in the short tailback when those going round the roundabout are stopped at the next lights. If leaving the City centre going south, go round by the stadium, no lights to deal with, simples. Prior to lights installation, there were huge tailbacks leading to the roundabout from the south at peak times, so nothing has really altered there.

 

It does not suit everyone, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

I don't envy the guy that has to sort the problems out, but I'm sure it would have done on a computer programme which would throw up the best results. I doubt the human brain would come up with a better solution short of spending multi millions of pounds to rectify and much more congestion during works.

 

ps, I also wondered if the dedicated lanes might be re-introduced after all bridge works are completed. Just a thought.

[IBM]

I can get to my work in 7 or 8 minutes! Is that a real job you have now?

[IBM]

I can get to my work in 7 or 8 minutes! Is that a real job you have now?

[tm4tj]

Aye, proper work. You have too much time on yer hands you posted it twice.

[bobbyjag]

Anybody know what the A9 was like yesterday. After been stuck for 40 minutes at Raigmore junction going to the Hearts game we went via the town centre (Harbour Road) etc and had no problems.

[Northern_jaggie]

The bridge looked horrific at 2:30pm and my uncle was 15mins late to meet me at 2:30, he drove from Slackbuie via the A9.

[bdu98196]

Why do folks leave their houses so late then blame traffic for being late? I left the black isle just about 2pm crossing the bridge at about 2.10pm with no queue or wait then parked walked to the stadium and was there by 2.45pm - is there a reason folks try to time arriving at 2.57pm for a 3pm k.o. all the time?

I also walked across the a9 and didn't think I might die which was nice, only took 4 games for the police to realise this could be a serious incident waiting to happen.

[TopSix]

Out of interest, might it be possible to pave the shortcut through the brambles to walk up to the pavement under the Kessock bridge?

[Philip]

This thread had such a promising title.

[Northern_jaggie]

I left the house in plenty of time, at 1:55pm to walk to the ground for 2:30, I'll likely no take the car again.

Hopefully this thread will make it to the relevant people if the traffic issue continues.