Northgate parking woes addressed
NORTHGATE – Northgate Shopping Centre and the TicketPro Dome respond to inflated traffic during events.
Residents and shoppers have been inconvenienced by the parking and traffic congestion in and around Northgate Shopping Centre and the TicketPro Dome.
A concerned resident commented, “It took me 30 minutes to drive from the Virgin Active side to the Dischem side… It then took me a further 15 minutes to exit the centre which can be walked in five minutes.” Another anonymous resident said, “The road leading off Northumberland [Avenue] is not even moving… needless to say I eventually turned away and went home.”
According to a statement released by both centre managements, “Safety [remains] the top priority, both Northgate Shopping Centre and the Ticketpro Dome take this task very seriously.”
“The TicketPro Dome hosts between 13 000 to 19 500 people for concerts, approximately 55 000 people over four days during large-scale exhibitions… it hosts about 96 000 people over [two] weeks.”
Traffic hotspots include the private road outside Entrance Five of the Ticketpro Dome (marked “1” on the image), the road behind parking area E of the Ticketpro Dome (jointly used by Northgate Shopping Centre), as well as the road in front of Northgate Shopping Centre Virgin Active (marked “4” on the plan).
Plans and measures put forward by the joint managements to alleviate traffic congestion:
• Strategic road closures;
• Road management is enforced in other areas of significant congestion;
• Traffic managers are specifically trained and positioned and additional equipment will be brought to service.
• When the volume of traffic in the area increases, traffic is redirected to enter/exit using point “2”, and additional traffic management staff are deployed here, as well as at point “4”.
• Various exits for the venue’s events are monitored and controlled by JMPD.
“The Ticketpro Dome and Northgate Shopping Centre work hand-in-hand to ensure patrons of Virgin Active and the Dome can exit as quickly and as easily as possible.” The statement added, “The safety of the entire precinct is paramount. Thousands of people are in the area during events and it is the priority – and will remain the priority.”
