Mykolaiv City Council says that the traffic congestion caused by McDrive should be dealt with by the police

Traffic jam on Mariupolska Street caused by a queue at McDrive. Photo: NikVesti/Kirill Vitvitskyi

Residents of Mykolaiv are complaining about long queues at McDrive, which are causing traffic congestion in the city. Despite the fact that the outlet opened almost a month ago, the queues show no sign of getting shorter.

This is reported by NikVesti.

Residents are posting videos and photos on social media of the queues at McDrive, which are preventing cars, buses and trolleybuses from travelling freely along Central Avenue. In addition, it is difficult to exit the parking bay near «Arka», and some drivers are parking their cars directly on the pedestrian crossing at the junction of the avenue and Mariupolska Street.

Oleh Kuksa, Deputy Head of the Transport, Communications and Telecommunications Department of the Mykolaiv City Council, told NikVesti that drivers who park on pedestrian crossings or queue on Tsentralnyi Avenue are breaking the rules of the road, so the patrol police should be monitoring this area.

«In accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On the National Police» and the Law of Ukraine «On Road Traffic», the police are responsible for ensuring road safety and maintaining public order. All vehicles present there are in breach of the road traffic regulations. The police must follow the rules and hold offenders to account: in particular, for breaching the 10-metre requirement from junctions and pedestrian crossings, and for driving into the oncoming lane, which hinders vehicles from exiting the lay-by and poses a threat to road safety,» the official explained.

Commenting on the possibility of amending the traffic rules for this section, the official expressed the view that restricting the movement of other road users due to violations by individual drivers is inappropriate.

«Why, just because some drivers break the rules and the police do not respond, should the movement of others be restricted? If I need to turn off Central Avenue, why should I be restricted in my movement because of these circumstances? The head of the patrol police should deploy a patrol there every day, as there is a problem on this stretch. There is always a large crowd of people there. A daily foot patrol needs to be provided. Instead of standing in the bushes near the People’s Garden or in other places, they should be working right here,» concluded Oleh Kuksa.

Traffic jam on Mariupolska Street due to a queue at McDrive. Photo: NikVesti/Kirill Vitvitskyi

As patrol police spokesperson Vitalii Dushko told NikVesti, police patrols are dispatched to this area and direct traffic towards Shevchenko Street whenever they have the opportunity or receive calls.

«When crews are not on call, they drive through this section and monitor the situation. If necessary, they direct traffic, as some drivers try to enter from Tsentralnyi Avenue via the oncoming lane. This creates problems both for parked cars and for drivers heading towards Tsentralnyi Avenue. Therefore, they are turned back so that the queue forms from the direction of Shevchenko Street,» he explained.

He added that patrol officers cannot remain in this area constantly due to a shortage of police officers.

«When our officers arrive and explain the situation to drivers, they usually change direction without objection. However, we cannot be there all the time. Complaints are received via the 102 helpline, and a patrol is then dispatched there, but there are few crews and far more calls. There are usually more cars there on Fridays, and fewer on weekdays,» noted Vitalii Dushko.

Traffic jam on Mariupolska Street due to the queue at McDrive. Photo: NikVesti/Kirill Vitvitskyi

Traffic jam on Mariupolska Street due to the queue at McDrive. Photo: NikVesti/Kirill Vitvitskyi