Roads fears as store and rally open

Up to 60,000 people could visit the store over the opening weekend

Cardiff will hope to avoid traffic chaos when the opening of Wales' largest store coincides with the start of the Wales Rally GB.

The Ikea store is expected to attract 15,000 shoppers on its first day at its new site at a retail park in the Grangetown area of the city.

The first stage of the rally will take place in nearby Cardiff Bay later in the day.

City officials have begun a new traffic scheme near Ikea to cope with the increase in traffic and have worked with rally organisers to reduce problems.

Cardiff council is confident that its road improvements near the new retailer will prevent the kind of traffic jams that have become notorious features of Ikea stores elsewhere.

Councillor Michael Michael, who is responsible for transport, said: "Cardiff council will be working closely with IKEA, with the organisers of the Wales Rally GB and with transport partners to ensure traffic flows through the city are as smooth as possible.

The rally gets underway in Cardiff

"Routes into the city are likely to be busy, especially around the Ferry Road junction of the A4232.

"We would encourage residents and visitors to the city to plan their journeys carefully, to allow plenty of time to reach their destinations and, if they are visiting the city centre, to think carefully about where they intend to park."

Ikea has already employed more than 400 staff, rising to 500 at peak times, at the 26,000ft square building.

The council is hoping the store will provide a major boost to the local economy.

But Friends of the Earth Cymru have serious concerns about the potential environmental impact of more retail development.

"We have a general problem with the way that retail has developed in Cardiff over the last decade," said director Julian Rosser.

"There has been a rise in the number out-of-town shopping centres - all of which are car based.

"This causes a serious environmental problem in that it increases traffic and pollution in those areas.

The contest will take place over three nights

"It also creates a social problem - the decline of traditional town shopping centres, which have better transport links, and often the loss of jobs in those centres."

Rally fans will make for the headquarters at the centre of the city early on in the day to see the cars being checked over ahead of the official start of the stage.

The cars will leave City Hall at 1900 GMT heading for Cardiff Bay, where pairs of drivers compete against each other on a floodlit circuit in the Super Specials contest, which takes place over three nights.

The rally will cover large parts of south Wales in stages from Thursday until Sunday.

It has been estimated the event could be worth up to £50m to the Welsh economy.