Chinatown Carpark Gantry Malfunctions, 100 Vehicles Stuck In Line For 3 Hours

Chinatown Carpark Gantry Malfunctions On 7 Jan

Last Saturday (7 Jan), the gantry barriers to a seven-storey carpark in Chinatown malfunctioned unexpectedly.

Trapped in line, about 100 vehicles had to wait for around three hours to leave the building.

A driver stuck in the queue even compared it to the congestion occasionally seen across the Singapore-Johor Causeway.

Gantry malfunction at busy Chinatown carpark

According to Shin Min Daily News, the gantry malfunction occurred at Block 33 Upper Cross Street — a multi-storey carpark next to People’s Park Food Centre.

The carpark in question is apparently a busy one — drivers would often park their vehicles there if they’re visiting nearby places like People’s Park Complex and State Courts.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 8.30pm last Saturday (7 Jan).

Drivers allegedly trapped for three hours

64-year-old Hong Shizhen was among one of the drivers stuck in the carpark.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Hong said he was about to exit the carpark with his wife when he found himself stuck in the long line of cars.

After spending some time in the queue, Hong found that the line was not moving and felt that something was amiss.

Exiting his car and heading to the lower floors, he then noticed that the gantry barriers at the carpark entrance had malfunctioned and that about 100 vehicles were affected.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for some drivers to lose their patience and sound their honk — this apparently went on for nearly two hours.

According to Hong, the line only began moving again at about 11.30pm, when the gates started operating again.

“I waited for three hours before I could go out,” Hong shared. “It was similar to clearing the customs when travelling to Johor Bahru (JB).

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Featured images from Shin Min Daily News.