Drones, cameras & understanding - Coventry City statement after backlash to post-match road closures
Coventry City say they will continue to monitor the impact of post-match road closures that have caused growing concern amongst Sky Blues supporters trying to get home after games at the CBS Arena.
Some fans have branded matchday road closures as ‘farcical’ and a ‘joke’ after long delays in getting home from the stadium. The decision for the closures was made to help get pedestrians away from the ground safely, particularly crossing the dual carriageway of the A444 Jimmy Hill Way, but road works appear to have exacerbated the problem of traffic queues leading to grid locked roads and, in some cases, taking over an hour to get from Holbrooks to Earlsdon and over an hour and a half to get to Nuneaton.
The safety measure was put in place after consultation between the stadium and football club and the approach was agreed by West Midlands Police, Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire County Council and National Highways.
READ MORE: Obikwu, Burroughs, Howley - How Coventry City's loan players are getting on
READ MORE: Jack Rudoni blasts 'criminal' Coventry City and makes Preston North End vow
Although the matchday operation is run by the CBS Arena, the football club have provided an update on the current situation and reminded the public why the initiative was put in place in the first place, after a series of “near misses” in terms of pedestrians being in accidents with traffic.
The club have vowed to continue to work with the other relevant agencies to “reduce any inconvenience” that is being caused and are continuing to monitor congestion via a number of methods, including “drones and road cameras” to ensure that they “continue to adapt.”
They have also encouraged fans to continue to provide feedback on the subject.
Club statement:
"The road closure that applies for all major events of significant scale at the Coventry Building Society Arena has now been in place for a number of Coventry City matches.
"During this time, the Football Club and the Coventry Building Society Arena have been monitoring comments from our supporters via various channels, both positive and negative.
"It is important the Club provides an update on the closure and clarifies the purpose of the closure.
"Following several regular audits from the Local Authority via the Safety Advisory Group last season, there were concerns raised about the safety of mass supporter exit from the stadium, especially with the growing crowds. This was further impacted by number of near misses, which highlighted the need for some form of action to reduce the risk of a major incident.
"As part of this review there was also feedback from West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit regarding safety and the measures which needed to be put in place with mass crowds which can been seen at a number of other venues around the country.
"During the close season, the instruction from the Local Authority through the Safety Advisory Group was to implement a road closure on all large events at the Coventry Building Society Arena which involve a mass exit - the purpose being, to ensure safety of people leaving the stadium. The instruction provided was that the closure should come into force from the start of the 2024/25 season.
"With Coventry Building Society Arena event team holding the match day safety certificate and running all safety operations on a matchday this would fall under their remit. The Club and Coventry Building Society Arena work closely to ensure safety is at the front of everything we do to ensure, including that everybody who attends our games gets home safely.
"We appreciate that the local roadworks in the area at this time are also contributing to delays for some supporters and will continue to work collaboratively to reduce any inconvenience that is being caused. As part of this, we are continuing to monitor congestion via a number of methods, including drones and road cameras to ensure that we continue to adapt.
"We encourage supporters to provide feedback to the Club or to the Coventry Building Society Arena so we can continue to monitor progress.
"We understand the frustration from some supporters, as we know fans want to get on their way promptly after a game, but we want to ensure everybody gets home safely."