Does Milton Keynes have the infrastructure to cope with big events?

[PhilTheFragger]

My daughter went to see the Foo Fighters last night at the Milton Keynes Bowl, a great gig by all accounts, but raised all sorts of concerns about the travel arrangements and the ability of the "city" to cope.

They traveled by car, it would normally take the best part of an hour to get there and they paid £15 in advance for a car park spot,

They left at 3pm reckoning there would be quite a bit of extra traffic and got to the outskirts of MK in just under an hour and they hit a brick wall, they crawled the last 3 miles in 3 hours only to find that their car park was full and closed, so they had to abandon the car in a side street and walk a mile and a half to the venue.

There were lots and lots of other people with similar stories

The Foos were on at 8.30 and they got in the venue at 8.15, but missed both support acts including Iggy & The Stooges

Getting out was equally slow and they finally got home at 2am

I would not like to have been a local resident and the same thing is going to happen this afternoon

So why do they use this venue, On the face of it it has good transport links, 4 miles from the M1, right next to the A5, the nearest rail station is 1 1/4 miles away and Bletchley slightly further, But there is a woeful lack of parking for that number of punters.

Compare that to Wembley, where few drive, most travel by Tube which is on its doorstep, its much quicker and the locals are much less inconvenienced

I certainly will think twice about going to the MK Bowl

 

[fundy]

Nope it doesnt have the infrastructure, not even close despite how much they try and think it does.

Feel pretty sorry for those who live on Furzton and a couple of the other estates with what they have to put up with every time there is an event at the bowl. Cars and rubbish get dumped wherever their owners feel, huge increase in antisocial behaviour etc.

Theres pretty much no parking there and its hardly convenient for the train station. Not much better when big games at stadium mk either (as will show again in the rugby wc)

 

[PhilTheFragger]

I see Greg (GB72) is going today to the Foo Gig,
I've tweeted him a warning

 

[Beezerk]

Wasn't there a thread on this a while ago? I know I suggested parking a mile or two away from the venue and walking the rest. Worked a treat for me when I went to the MK Bowl for a gig.

 

[fundy]

Wasn't there a thread on this a while ago? I know I suggested parking a mile or two away from the venue and walking the rest. Worked a treat for me when I went to the MK Bowl for a gig.

There arent too many places you can park and that hardly resolves the issues the local residents suffer though

 

[Beezerk]

There arent too many places you can park and that hardly resolves the issues the local residents suffer though

There were no houses where I parked, can't remember exactly where it was but we came from the North and got there without any traffic. I do remember there was a restaurant and small shopping mall nearby with a large free car park outside.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Don't think I have ever had an issue going to the Bowl for various events held there - sis in law either went last night or tonight so will see what they say

The stadium has improved greatly as well with the new parking and entrance

 

[GB72]

Heading over early. Will be leaving soonish. Had no problems last time as the council ran camping at one of the lakes and bussed people in. It was excellently organised

 

[Hacker Khan]

Bloody immigrant concert goers, yet another example of how illegal immigrants who are also Foo Fighters fans bringing our infrastructure to its knees.

 

[c1973]

Bloody immigrant concert goers, yet another example of how illegal immigrants who are also Foo Fighters fans bringing our infrastructure to its knees.

I don't mind the genuine foo fighters fans, it's the ones that are only interested in going to a bigger and better gig that we should clamp down on.

 

[GB72]

No problems at all 10 minutes in traffic. Easy into the car park. Really well organised

 

[Doon frae Troon]

127,000 at the Scottish Air [Ayr] Show yesterday, we coped quite easily.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

127,000 at the Scottish Air [Ayr] Show yesterday, we coped quite easily.

Whats the relevance ?

 

[GB72]

I have to say that Milton Keynes does have the facilities. Not sure what happened Last night but today I was in traffic for maybe 10 or 15 minutes then straight into the pre pay car park with no problem. Took longer to get out as the cars are held back until the bulk of the pedestrians are clear. This was made clear on booking o no problem. After that it was pretty free flowing all the way home. Been to the Bowl twice now and had faultless experiences both times

 

[fundy]

I have to say that Milton Keynes does have the facilities. Not sure what happened Last night but today I was in traffic for maybe 10 or 15 minutes then straight into the pre pay car park with no problem. Took longer to get out as the cars are held back until the bulk of the pedestrians are clear. This was made clear on booking o no problem. After that it was pretty free flowing all the way home. Been to the Bowl twice now and had faultless experiences both times

Lot lot easier coming in from the north than the south Greg, I headed down to Luton just after 3pm and they were queueing a couple of miles coming in from the other end! Glad you had a good time

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Whats the relevance ?

Perhaps we have more experience in organising large crowds.
Ayr Gold Cup, Scottish Grand National, Ayr United v Stenhousemuir etc.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I went to the gig on Saturday and had no issues at all..... and I'm sorry to the OP but leaving at 3pm when the gates opened at 4 with 65,000 people due to be at the gig was a crazy decision.

I did a fair bit of reading before deciding what to do and it worked perfectly.

We got to Milton Keynes at 1:30pm and parked up behind the train station - it cost £5 to park all day and got a space with ease. We then followed the very well signed route towards the bowl and stopped at a very random Sri Lankan restaurant (opposite the Tesco express) for a curry which was top notch. We then wandered down to the bowl for shortly before 4pm and queued for half an hour or so before we got in.

Then as soon as they belted out "Best of you" we made our way back to the car and in 20 minutes were in the car on the way out of town. We were back to my mates place in Ipswich by 1:30am, which included a stop at Mcdonalds for some food!

I went to the Oasis gig in MK about 10 years ago and got stuck in the official car park for over 3 hours. Lesson learned.