Mr Brown wants the government group that oversees motorsport events to examine the causes of last Wednesday evening's rush hour chaos and look at ways to avoid it happening again.

The group is made up of Tourism Minister Martyn Quayle as chairman, Home Affairs Minister Adrian Earnshaw, Transport Minister David Anderson and senior officers.

Mr Brown: 'Members of the public suffered serious delays trying to get home on Wednesday evening. They are owed an explanation as to why this happened, and what might be done to prevent it happening again. It's important that we get a clear picture of the situation so that lessons can be learned for the future.'

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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YOUR COMMENTS

With respect to the recent road congestion issue that brought Douglas to a halt, I think that businesses should look at their work force and working hours during such times as MGP and the TT and perhaps stagger their respective closing times thus eliminatinating hundreds of vehicles all trying to get home at the same time. This infact should be something to look at for all year round then our roads wouldn't be so congetsed at certain times of the day. The other worrying factor here that no one has mentioned is the consequences should there have been an emergency situation where any of our emergency services were required and were unable to attend the scene due to being gridlocked. If possible more one way systems should be developed that are able to keep the flow of traffic going.
JW, Douglas

There are a few simple ideas that government could employ that would ease congestion at race times and would also benefit commuters during the rest of the year;
1. A thorough review of the road network in central Douglas; Preferably performed by an off-island company as our own DOT have showed time and time again that they are incapable of using common sense.
2. Park & Ride schemes; Instead of giving consent for yet more luxury properties / flats that most people on the island could never afford, why use land for something useful?
3. Take the horse trams off during evening rush hour; If you have ever been stuck in a queue of traffic travelling at a horse's pace you know how frustrating this is. Why not take them off between 4:30 - 6pm and give us all a break?
S SHAW, Laxey

Utter time-wasting nonsense. As a member of the public, I don't feel like I need an explanation because it's pretty obvious why it happened. But if Tony Brown is so mystified, perhaps I can elucidate: bad weather + race delays + 9 to 5 commuter patterns + far more cars on the roads than there used to be + insufficient access roads to channel said traffic = gridlock chaos. It was ONE DAY out of 365 in the year. Big deal. But I do think it's time that the Government took their heads out of the sand regarding the increasing volume of traffic on the roads. Buses sit near-empty in crawling lines of cars which by and large carry only the driver, yet until the public transport system evolves into something more than an expensive and rarely convenient alternative, people have no incentive to leave those cars at home. The Island's small roads were never meant to take the volume of traffic they bear now. Roundabouts and road-widening schemes can only do so much, and are ultimately self-defeating. Our esteemed ranks of politicians and senior civil servants need to do what they do worst – put their thinking caps on – instead of sitting around waiting for things to get worse, and then professing bemusement when they do.
LC, Douglas

Hear hear to LC and the previous post as well. I wrote to the CM some years ago when he was the Minister of DoT about the amounts of traffic but he dismissed any idea that there were problems with traffic flow in Douglas and that if necessary school times could be staggered? Since sending that letter I've contacted 2 more Ministers of DoT about the increasing traffic problems and every time no decisive action has been taken or even an admittance that we have a problem!? It seems everything has to come to a grinding halt before anything is done – and blaming it on the races is only a cover for the lack of initiative from the politicians to tackle what is and will be more of a nightmare as the population increases. We need a proper integrated public transport system, DoT did a good report on this which has sat on the politicians desks since 2002 and hasn't been acted on. Perhaps gridlock in Douglas will finally bring about some change for the better but I do hope the many people who have complained about the MGP understand that they are part of the problem too – try using your car less (especially the single occupancy ones), car share, try walking/cycling (better for your health)…….all 3 of those ideas will save you money as well. And to the politicians road widening schemes and BIG roundabouts don't solve the problem they only encourage more cars and more speed.
PC, Douglas

First get rid of this deadwood government,i.e. the Council of Ministers,have a referendum on what the people want,because the MHKs and Civil Servants don't know what to do,if this Integrated Transport document has been sitting with these people for six years,and they can't come to a decision now,its, as the Prime Minister Chamberlain was told in the House of Commons," You have done enough damage,go and go now ".
EORH

Why is Mr Brown calling for an enquiry? What a waste of time. Unfortunately the organisers of the MGP have absolutely no control over the weather!!!!! And that is the main reason why the races were delayed. So unless Mr Brown can command the weather there is always going to be the possibility of delays. The race organisers tried to accomodate every one but there was always going to be some who moaned even if the roads had been opened at 5pm. And as for serious delays???? It was ONE EVENING and only a couple of hours at that. If these delays during race weeks were a regular occurance - as in every race day had a delay and it happened every year - then I would agree that maybe something does need doing. But they are not - we are more likely to have traffic chaos due to a road closures for accidents/road works etc etc. This seems like yet another case of because it's to do with the racing it's unacceptable but it is okay for us to have to sit in queues of traffic week after week while yet another piece of Manx tarmac is dug up in the name of road inprovements or have to detour on a regular basis each time the mountain road is closed because some motorist decides to stuff their car into the banking or walls. The whole island is one big traffic nightmare all year round as there are too many vehicles on the road. It takes me up to 40 minutes every night to get from Chesterfield Carpark to Quarter Bridge roundabout because of the volumn of traffic. How about an enquiry into something important! Like the Steam Packet prices!
JOSEY R

With respect to the recent road congestion issue that brought Douglas to a halt, I think that businesses should look at their work force and working hours during such times as MGP and the TT and perhaps stagger their respective closing times thus eliminatinating hundreds of vehicles all trying to get home at the same time. This infact should be something to look at for all year round then our roads wouldn't be so congetsed at certain times of the day. The other worrying factor here that no one has mentioned is the consequences should there have been an emergency situation where any of our emergency services were required and were unable to attend the scene due to being gridlocked. If possible more one way systems should be developed that are able to keep the flow of traffic going.
JW, Douglas

As a MGP Marshal, I was making my way from Quarterbridge to my home on Douglas promenade on the night in question, and initially I was very surprised at the amount of traffic at a standstill on the roads. As my route home (as a pedestrian I might add) involves cutting through a number of smaller side streets, I realised why a large number of the main roads were blocked. Clueless drivers were blocking EVERY SINGLE ONE of the side street/main road junctions I passed. So, no-one could turn off any main road into a side street, and vice versa. And people wonder why traffic comes to a standstill? I personally do not believe that DOT, MGP Organisers, or any other body can be held responsible for standing traffic, when much of the problem has to be irresponsible, thoughtless and selfish driving attitudes.
PW, Douglas