Three-hour queues at Cabot Circus’ car park amid city ‘gridlock’

Drivers have faced four-hour queues to exit a shopping centre car park in central Bristol after a faulty traffic light caused gridlock.

Motorists reported moving just a few feet in three hours on Saturday afternoon, with dozens of cars unable to leave the Cabot Circus car park.

Several roads in the area are also experiencing long queues.

A spokesperson for the city council said contractors were in the area trying to fix the traffic light.

A Cabot Circus spokesperson add: “The traffic lights were down in the area which caused major delays on the roads but it’s now been rectified by the council.

“That was the cause of the delay and then backlog leaving the car park.”

Sam Hill said she had been waiting for four hours.

“We’ve gone back down into Cabot Circus and had some food and come back out again.

“We’ve only seen one staff member on level three helping people, but it’s been chaos. There’s no support her from Cabot Circus at all,” she said.

James Bleeg, 53, had been stuck on the sixth floor of the car park for two-and-a-half hours by 17:00 GMT.

He had travelled into Bristol to shop and visit the Christmas market, which opened a week ago, with his wife and 12-year-old son.

Mr Bleeg estimated they had moved only a few metres.

He said: “We’ve been better but life doesn’t always go as you planned it. We are trying to keep our spirits up by speaking to family and listening to podcasts.”

By 19:00, there were traffic wardens on each floor by the exit ramps helping to direct traffic.

Lucy Trimnell, a Somerset councillor, posted on X that Bristol was “absolute bedlam” after spending three hours stuck in queues.

She added there was “gridlock” on all the roads.

There are multiple traffic jams including Bond Street, Temple Way, The Haymarket, Newfoundland Way and St James Barton Roundabout, according to Google Maps.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “There was an issue with a traffic light in the area. The contractors are on site and looking at it now.”