LCC to set out parking plan for Everton’s new stadium

I know from attending many Golf Open Championships how well they run various park-and-ride scheme. Also with Bramley-Moore Dock being on the river, could they have not arranged to incorporate a landing stage by the ground which may allow those on the Wirral to park and catch a ferry across?

Although, apart from corporate hospitality, they don't give a toss about ordinary match-going fans.

I am sure many of our American supporters will know the massive car parking facilities at their NFL grounds.

I heard, probably untrue, that the Dallas Cowboys have a parking space for every seat.

The Ten Streets area relates to the old strip of land from the edge of the city centre (about Leeds Street) going north to roughly Bramley-Moore Dock. It's the old dock and warehouse areas bordered on one side by the Mersey, on the other side all the old dock warehouses, and industrial premises.

In the past few years, it's been home to many small businesses in what has been a very dilapidated area of the city. It has little public transport, already a major concern of fans and businesses, and no defined large-scale areas for matchday parking.

Why the council deem it necessary to enforce a no parking area in the Ten Streets in what is a non-residential area is madness. Is it a revenue exercise or a determination to drive people away from the areas businesses and match day facilities?

60,000 people don't just appear and disappear, they use public transport, drive, walk… but ultimately it will still require a huge area for parking. So Liverpool City Council, what's the plan? Or is this Kopites revenge?

I appreciate the model at Bramley-Moore Dock is to try and get people to arrive earlier and leave later but using Goodison as the model we will have to accommodate 50,000+ people entering the stadium within an hour and the same number leaving at the same time, a much greater concentration of people than at an Open.

The average bus carries approx 50 people, so just where are you going to find the 1,000 buses needed? Exactly how many are the council planning, or do they expect the majority of people to walk and pay the exorbitant parking costs closer to town?

They cite congestion and air pollution issues, of course there will be congestion, but air pollution? Bullshit!

It's an industrial area, few residents, the amount of people using cars going the match will only be impacted if there is sufficient public transport and park-and-rides to get them to and from the game; is that happening?

Goodison is chaos before and after the match. Bramley-Moore Dock will be too.

Secondly, the area has significantly more public transport and road structures into and from Goodison that do not exist for Bramley-Moore Dock. At the moment, no-one seems to be addressing the issue.

If you ban cars or have insufficient parking, how are you intending to move people quickly and safely in and out of the area?

"Also with Bramley-Moore Dock being on the river, could they have not arranged to incorporate a landing stage by the ground which may allow those on the Wirral to park and catch a ferry across?"

The club website says there are "legislative restrictions" on that.

If we are going to be asked to commit to choosing seats / renewing season tickets soon, it's surely not unreasonable to ask what the parking / transportation facilities are going to be?

Last time I raised this, there was very little sympathy with my concerns and I was informed that the walk wouldn't be too demanding. Well, as a relatively fit 71-year-old, albeit with a dodgy knee, it shouldn't be beyond me to walk from and to the city centre but it may not be the case for everyone.

We need to be announcing plans for a park-and-ride shuttle bus service along the lines of the Brighton model.

The City Cat, a catamaran ferry that carries 170 passengers in one go, they dock at various points up and down the river, I think 30 in service.

Surely something along these lines could be done?

Christine, I agree. I wonder if it's all too much effort for Everton?? What about water-taxis, as on the Dubai Creek?

We'd all love there to be a multitude of plans in place to make access and egress from the area smooth and hassle-free but it ain't going to be like that.

It's going to be much more of a pain for me and my matchgoing mates than Goodison is but I still can't wait to do it.

Christine: I love that Brisbane City Cat service Christine. Used to use it from the University of Queensland stop to downtown. It could start at Southport to pick up the three Evertonians in Southport, call in at Crosby Marina, somewhere else, and drop us off at the jetty with a walkway to the ground. I don't know what's south of King's Dock, I come from north Liverpool, but it could pick Rob up at Otterspool.

The double-decker busses in Liverpool carry 76 passengers, so that will alleviate the problem quite a bit. If they put on the six-coach trains, that will ease it a bit more.

My wife's cousin, who lives on one of the streets that leads down to Regent Road, has had offers to let two cars in her front area and one outside her garden gate, possibly two. Multiply that on a lot of those streets and, as you know, Christine, where there's a will, there's a way (as well as a fight where the will is concerned)!

A friend told me "legislative restrictions" is Evertonese for “too expensive “.

It would have been very useful if still like that but unfortunately no longer the case.

During several years of financial turmoil at the club, they would, I guess, have been facing the costs not only of going through the process of planning permission but more significantly of covering the costs of a landing stage, as well as additional ferry provision?? Etc??

Or were they confronted with the possibility that the ferries bringing Everton supporters to the new stadium would be blarring out that fecking Gerry and the Pisstakers dirge?

Got to be honest though, I can only see a complete and utter shambles on the first home game. There doesn't appear to be any desire to grasp the nettle and come up with a plan, apart from banning all cars from the area. Apart from residents of course. I'm almost dreading it.

As you will know with football supporters, there is always a way. Especially those from our neck of the woods.

The last one I was on from the ground into town had about that number in the area by the driver. Hate to think how many were on it in total.

Discretion and the inability to count above ten seems to be a requirement for some of the conductors!

Ah well..

Dave, okay, a double-decker will hold more but I think we would have to raid museums to get enough of them!

How long is it since you were back in Liverpool? There are loads of double-deckers,girl — all lovely and comfy, not like the boneshakers we grew up with… well maybe not you; I can give you a few years!

Can you still smoke on the top deck? Not sure I haven't been up there for years because of my jelly legs but there is always one person who couldn't care less about anyone else and still has a puff.

Yes, there are a load of double-decker bike racks built behind the dock wall on the main plaza.

Apparently this has happened at Anfield so is it a disabled space for me? Even though I am fit in every other way. Please don't come out with the idea that everybody has one, it simply isn't true.

I'm hoping at least they'll be running 8-car trains every 5 minutes into the city centre.

I did the walk yesterday from Moorfields (Old Hall Street) and it took 23 minutes. Weather was nice but I don't fancy it on a baltic, wet, windy January night!

I share your concerns. Once you make your way out of the dock exit, you can only go one of two ways and inevitably there will be many standing near those exit walls impeding the crowd.

Good look in getting on those trains north after a Saturday game during the run-up to Xmas and during the New Year sales period.

Correct me if I'm wrong but is that bridge on the Dock Road a single file width?

I'm hoping there's some incentive for fans to stay behind and use the bars after the game (Happy hour?).

The plans for the fan zone at Sandhills station had better have a roof, though I doubt it will, because when the wind blows down the dock road area and combined with rain, it will make for an uncomfortable time, to say the least.

Also has anything been done to improve the street lighting? Anyone who has walking difficulties cannot be expected to walk half an hour from the city centre so a relaible and frequent bus service will be needed.

LCC have known long enough this issue was coming but as usual it will be a mess for a while until it sorts its self out.

I have MS and can walk a reasonable distance with a stick, but it's not fun in wind and rain. I keep getting rejected for a blue badge. Half-hour walk is not going to be easy.

Great Howard Street leading onto Derby Road will be coned off down to one lane of traffic to allow extended pedestrian access onto the road.

The Titanic Hotel apparently are at odds with the proposals as they have a lot of functions and weddings on Saturdays as you would expect.

I can imagine a midweek game will pose a lot of traffic issues with said road closures during the rush hour also.

Thankfully there appears to be plenty of good space within the stadium for disabled supporters but how do they actually get there in vehicles?

Is the car park opposite the West Stand for club officials or is it open to disabled supporters? If it's for both, I can't see it being large enough to accommodate both.

There are already 10 trains per hour on weekdays from Sandhills to town because it is the confluence of services from 3 directions. Doubtful if Merseyrail will manage to provide 8-car stock though!

It might be quicker to walk to town rather than queue – for those of us who are able.

I think the club are expecting a good few thousand to stay behind at the ne stadium to ease the crush. Otherwise, it's going to be chaos, as others have predicted.

Perhaps it's because I worked in project management but I find it astounding that there has been little or no discussion about car parking and transport facilities. Surely that was discussed in the planning and approval stage? With only 10 months to go before the ground is opened, nothing has been mooted. How did we even get planning permission?

My mate John Chambers at 4# above came up with a very good suggestion a while ago. Carry on with the Stanley Park car park and put on a fleet of buses as a shuttle service. Seems sensible to me as one possible solution.

At AT&T Stadium in Dallas, for example, you can park in any lot and then the prearranged shuttle will come out to get you and take you right to the gate.

Seems like a possible solution for the new Everton Stadium.

I cycled from my house to the ground the other day 15 minutes from Litherland but the new bike lane only goes half-way down the dock road.

And of course I was not trying to run thousands of people over. I suppose I will have to get a very big bell.

You perfectly illustrate the difference between how America treats its customers and how the Premier League treats their customers.

This new stadium has been in the planning for quite a while with little or no thought about how fans get in and out of the stadium. To be perfectly honest, the clubs don't care how you get in and out of the stadium.

If it becomes a real pain in the arse and fans don't turn up in the numbers expected, then maybe the penny will drop. I dread to think about a midweek game…

General access and egress will be a nightmare.

At some time they're going to have to construct a landing stage and therefore assist all our supporters travelling from the Wirral, North Wales and points South. It will certainly ease congestion.

I'm surprised the Council haven't planned this as installation is not difficult, just needs the will to push it through.

Get a barge at the dock with pile driver
4 casings in, fitted with stage
Stage moves up and down with tide

Honestly dead easy

Were you aware that when the Mersey Ferry was well used it ran the equivalent of 24 hours a day and the level of the tide was irrelevant?

Dave #46

Exactly. Been on the loop in Chicago and it was magical.

I don't know whether that will be a viable option, when we do move into BMD. One thing is for certain, none of them fancy being corralled at Sandhills for any length of time, so they may after full-time, decide to walk from BMD to Town.

I don't understand why transport facilities weren't addressed at the start of the process, but I suppose with the Council hardly swimming in ready cash, and Everton FC on its uppers, it'll be the usual make do and mend attitude that will prevail.

We'll all find a way of getting to and from the ground of course we will, but decades of habits will be hard to drop, and eventually new habits will be formed, but I do hope it's not as daunting as it appears to be at first glance.

What's annoying is that the Government or the local council either won't or can't invest in a transport system that is fit for the 21st century rather than the 19th.

Rail: Merseyrail are planning a “fan management area” at Sandhills, the nearest station to the stadium, 0.8 M away (I’ve walked it).?The station has one narrow central platform so the reality will be long queues after the match.

The new trains can run with 4 or 8 cars; I was told by Merseyrail last May that on the Ormskirk and Southport Lines they would start to operate with 8 on match days from September, but none have been sighted so far.

No one at Merseytravel could explain to me why a new station at Vauxhall, between Sandhills and Moorfields, mooted over a decade ago, was never built. This would have been about 0.5 miles away and perfect for passengers travelling from the direction of the city centre. There are no plans for it be revived.

Bus: No operators have remotely enough spare vehicles available. The lack of bus availability killed off Kenwright’s ridiculous plan for a stadium at Kirkby.

Ferry: This fantasy has appeared on here several times over the past few years. The cost of building a floating landing stage catering for a tide differential of 9M would be totally prohibitive.

Next August will see thousands of fans walking either from the city centre rail and bus stations or from their cars parked a long way off. Not a happy prospect.

Not investing in a new train station at a time when they are building a new station near to the Baltic triangle is hard to fathom but I’m sure that soon it will change when more and more flats get built

Its just longer walks.

At last, no histrionics, just reasonable common sense. 👏👏👏

Sorry Ian a floating jetty is not, in any way, cost prohibitive.
We build them all the time and believe me over time it would be beneficial and cost effective.

The only issue is not the landing stage but the vessels to use it

Away fans? No on has mentioned them. Coaches can't go inside the walls surely? That's another few thousand to think about. Where will they park their ford fiestas and get off and on coaches. How long will their walk be? Will they be sitting ducks for our coke and Pink Floyd divvies?

Great Homer Street! That's one long trudge. They clearly have people like Joe in mind. Will there be shuttles laid on to and from the dock?

I have a horrible feeling that press, radio, and tv will have a field day. The council should have been on top of this two or three years ago.

Using Sandhills as base camp borders on insanity and eight-coach trains will make things worse. Again, this could have been addressed with some rational thinking a while ago.

It's better than anything the council have come up with, by the sounds of it.

"The Everton Stadium will also host a range of traditional pubs, bars, high-street style restaurants and fine-dining spaces, offering pre-and-post-game facilities on matchday"

They don't want people arriving at leaving all in one go, just before and after the match. They want people arriving in drips and drabs for hours before and after the game, making them money!

Steve Rotherham has said he wants those trackless trams (Gliders) but it won't be until 2028 (in time for the Euros).