Traffic chaos in Cardiff after Blackweir Live gigs

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Drivers have criticised traffic chaos in Cardiff caused by the closure of two key routes for live music events, which led to cancelled appointments, late buses and people being stranded in tailbacks for more than an hour.

Thousands of people came to the city this week to watch Alanis Morissette and Slayer play at Blackweir Live on Wednesday, July 2 and Thursday, July 3 respectively.

As part of it’s traffic plan for the events at Blackweir Fields, Cardiff Council closed a number of roads including Castle Street and North Road.

Travel advice

The local authority provided travel advice ahead of the events and asked people to plan ahead, but those who opposed the Blackweir gig series before it went ahead argued that closing two of the city’s busiest roads would cause chaos.

One driver, Jim Bischoff, said he was stuck in traffic for nearly an hour on Wednesday. “[It was] complete grid lock.” he said.

“People were just hands on horns, getting annoyed.

“If you went along Newport Road where it’s crossed by West Grove… that was totally jammed up because people were trying to avoid Colum Road and come down that back way.

“People went into the box there so nothing could move along Newport Road in either direction and people were talking about 30-40 minute delays there.”

Transport plan

Cardiff Council’s application for a new events licence for Blackweir Fields was approved in April, 2025.

A that time, a council official confirmed that the local authority still hadn’t completed a final draft transport plan for future events.

On his own experience of getting into Cardiff, Jim said it took him 40 minutes to travel from the A48 to Boullevard De Nantes after he became stuck on the route from about 4.30pm.

He added: “I knew we would have to come down Colum Road, and the problem with that was you couldn’t turn right into Corbett Rd.

“There was no turning right because the parking for the events is in the avenues.

“You had to come down Colum Rd [in a] southerly direction until you got to… Gorsedd Gardens Road.

“You had to turn right there. Everybody coming up from Newport Rd who was going to the concert was turning left into there too to go and get parking.

“That’s why Colum Rd got so totally blocked up yesterday. Nobody had thought about all of those cars.”

As part of its traffic plan, Cardiff Council also closed Duke Street, Kingsway and Cowbridge Road East from Cathedral Road through its junction with Westgate Street.

North Road was closed from its junction with Colum Road throughout to Boulevard De Nantes and Boulevard De Nantes was closed at its junction with Park Place.

There was grid locked traffic across the city centre and other parts of Cardiff were also affected.

Long queues before the concerts could be seen on Cathedral Road and there were times when residential streets also became packed with cars.

Ged O’Connell said he saw the traffic issues unfolding towards the east of the city on his walk to the bus stop after work.

He said: “It was a standstill. The cars didn’t move going towards town from West Grove for about 10-15 minutes. Nothing moving at all.

“I’ve lived in Cardiff all my life. I’ve never ever seen it like that and obviously it’s because they closed off North Road and all the traffic had to come down Colum Road.”

Ged was allowed to leave work early at about 6.10pm to catch his bus. He arrived at the bus stop near Newport Road at 6.20pm, but his bus didn’t arrive until 7.40pm.

He said: “There were no buses to Llanrumney or Newport and then at about 7.30pm there was a Newport Bus that came around… West Grove, and it had ‘Not in Service’ [on it].

“There was nothing at all.”

He went on to add: “All the buses were coming back from Llanrumney and Rumney and the drivers must have known that they wouldn’t have been able to make the next route out.

“Otherwise they would have gone over their time.”

“So you can imagine all the people at the bus stop. It was horrendous.

“By the time the bus came, there must have been 25 [people waiting] when normally there’s about three or four.”

“The number 44… two of them went through full. Then another two came after.

“It was worse than international [rugby] day.”

Delays

A Cardiff Bus spokesperson said on Thursday, July 3: “We made changes to our operations because of the concert at Blackweir, we have the same plan for tonight, and we also do the same for the many other events we see in the city.

“Traffic was busy and this did lead to delays, and as ever, our drivers did their best to maintain services.

“We continue to work with Officers at Cardiff Council to ensure we keep the city moving.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that one dental practice in the city centre had to cancel appointments because patients were unable to make it on time due to traffic.

About 10 to 15 patients turned up late to their appointments at the Park Place Dental Practice due to traffic issues and difficulties finding a parking spot.

One member of staff was also stuck in traffic for an hour and a half after work.

Cardiff Council had event day parking at Sophia Gardens and the Civic Centre. However, no park and ride facility was provided for the events.

Some drivers who parked at the Civic Centre, which cost £20, complained about the length of time it took to exit the car park and claimed there were no marshals present after the event.

One driver said they were waiting to exit for nearly 90 minutes.

Event parking

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “As with all major events a full traffic management plan is in place for the Blackweir Live events.

“All road closures have been advertised in advance and people are being advised to plan ahead, leave plenty of time for their journeys, and use public transport, or walk or cycle where possible.

“The £20 cost of event parking means people attending the event can park from 8am until midnight – an hourly rate in the region of £1 an hour – enabling them to visit local shops, bars and restaurants ahead of the concert.

“If people choose to drive in earlier that can also help reduce congestion.

“Council Traffic Marshalls have worked throughout the events to ensure access and exit from event parking takes place as quickly as possible.

“As with all major events, it can take time to leave the event parking site due to the number of vehicles trying to exit at the same time.

“Last night, this situation was made worse by vehicles parking on open roads close to the site, blocking lanes and restricting the flow of traffic.

“This situation was addressed as quickly as possible by Council Marshalls who were sent to move these vehicles on.”