As those of you who have read my blog will know, I went to the Balloons Over Waikato Night Glow on Saturday. When it finished, we took the short 10 minute walk back to our car, surrounded by an upbeat and happy crowd. Once we reached our car, it then took me an hour and a half to drive the 2km out onto the main road, so it's true, it was absolute gridlock. In fairness to the other drivers though, noone got impatient and they remained, for the most part, courteous. I think it's just the price you pay for having 80,000 people in one area for a big event. Planning could have been better no doubt, but there still would have been some inevitable delays, given the amount of people and traffic.
I'm guessing the traffic congestion for the V8's will be substantially worse, given the location of the track and the fact that it is over 3/4 days. Our vehicle sales and rentals place is smack bang in the middle of the action - there have been roadworks for weeks - and yes, it's a bit of an inconvenience having to take an alternate route to work, but this event is well and truly putting Hamilton on the map and the locals have been very understanding
Professional planning and patient people is all is needed - if you don't like the traffic, stay at home
