Drivers say a car park at a Dundee retail park has been “absolute chaos” since the opening of a new M&S store.
Motorists have reported being stuck in queues of up to 40 minutes trying to exit the car park at Gallagher Retail Park on multiple occasions in recent weeks.
It follows the opening of the new M&S store on July 16, which increased demand for spaces at the car park as the retailer merged two stores into one.
Drivers say long queues have built up at peak times as traffic waits on the lights to change at the exit onto East Dock Street.
Drivers face long queues trying to exit Gallagher Retail Park
One M&S customer said the car park was “chaos” for the “best part of two hours” on Friday evening.
He said: “It was absolute chaos coming into the car park but it looks like it’ll be even worse trying to get out.
“I thought fair enough, the first few days would be busy after the new M&S opened – but it’s not got any better.
“The car park is simply not big enough, and can’t cope with this level of traffic.”
Another shopper said: “It’s ridiculous – the queue of cars means you can hardly move and the whole place is gridlocked.
“It took me ages to get in and I’m using a disabled space.
“I’ve never known it to be as bad.
“The traffic light intervals are too short given how busy the car park is at the moment.”
One other shopper who visited on Friday afternoon said: “The queues weren’t too bad when I was there, but the car park was busy and there seemed to be people going in all directions trying to find spaces – it was fairly chaotic.
“It feels like they need to make it one-way as I can see how people are getting caught up in queues trying to get out.”
The site – operated by Euro Car Parks – is free for the first two hours, with a maximum stay of four hours.
The closest alternative is the Olympia Car Park which costs £2.30 for a two-hour stay.
An Amey spokesperson said: “With the opening of a new store there has been an increase in traffic to Gallagher Retail Park.
“Following discussions with the landlord of the retail park, we have extended the traffic light intervals at the entrance to Gallagher Retail Park from a junction with the A92 East Dock Street to help manage the increased traffic.
“We will continue to monitor the traffic flow at this location.”
Euro Car Parks and M&S have been contacted for comment.
Conversation