Costco traffic changes not fixing tailback issue

Residents living near a Costco which attracts queues of traffic have said action taken to curb the tailbacks has not fixed the problem.

New lane markings were introduced at the shopping warehouse off the A45 in Coventry two weeks ago and although campaigners said they had seen "some improvement", traffic was still building up.

Coventry City Council added the lane markings in an attempt to filter Costco customers directly onto the site and to separate them from other drivers.

Costco said it was trying to speed up the flow of cars leaving by increasing the number of checkouts, pre-scanning people's trolleys and reducing the number of seats at its cafe.

It said the changes should mean more people arriving could get off the highway and into a store parking space more quickly.

Congestion at the site has left some residents stuck in traffic for up to an hour and unable to get past.

The city council added it would also use existing traffic cameras to monitor the situation and would ask West Midlands Police what enforcement could be carried out on the overspill.

But campaigners are concerned action taken so far has not resolved the issue, which has been ongoing for six years.

A petition of 80 signatures called for action so customers' cars were not queuing out onto the highway while waiting to get to the warehouse and adjoining petrol station.

Petition leader Alexander Clinton-Carter said: "The main issue of the traffic backing up onto the A45 is still happening at peak times, we're effectively losing a section of the highway."

Clinton-Carter said the route was "ultimately never designed" for the current demand and what used to be an industrial estate was now one of the "busiest retail areas in the city".

Traffic congestion had gone far beyond being a weekend-only issue, he added.

"Ultimately, you can see this on a Friday evening, you can see this on a Saturday morning, and you can see this on a Sunday morning," he explained.

"People are going there more often and the days where it's not happening are fewer and far between."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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