WINNIPEG – Under the bright lights of Investors Group Field, fans cheered on the Blue and Gold.
But as they left, it was like someone flicked a switch. It was very dark.
Manitoba Hydro says no one called them to say the street lights in the area went out.
Even with the lights on, thousands of people had a tough time seeing where they were going.
“When we left the stadium it was almost pitch black,” said Jay Prober, a Winnipeg lawyer.
Prober adds if someone gets hurt in poor lighting, a lawyer may decide to sue.
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“You’d sue everybody,” he said. “You’d sue the university, the football organization and maybe even the city.”
People making their way down Chancellor Matheson Road faced an even tougher time. Many walked on the shoulder of the road where the speed limit is 70 kilometers an hour.
There is a sidewalk on the south side of the road but there is no crosswalk to get there. The sidewalk on the north side ends well before Pembina Highway.
University of Manitoba officials say it is up to the football club to ask the university and city to extend the sidewalk. The city says there are no plans to do that at this point.
While traffic flow was better, there was still gridlock leaving some parking lots and not everyone was happy heading home.
“We’ve been sitting here for 45 minutes and we’ve moved five cars,” said one frustrated fan trying to leave.
Around 12,000 people chose to take the bus to the stadium. Transit says the process was smoother than the pre-season game but there were long waits leaving the stadium.
“We’re not finished,” said Winnipeg Transit’s Dave Wardrop. “We knew we’d be improving for a number of games coming forward and still expect to do so.”
Wardrop says better signage and changes to pick-up locations will be looked at.
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