A greater emphasis should be placed on access to public transport at Canberra Stadium in order to avoid a repeat of the weekend's traffic chaos, a leading urban planner has said.
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Anthony Burton, principal of planning firm Anthony Burton and Associates, said improving public transport connections to the stadium were a priority before any future upgrade to the 40-year-old venue.
The calls come after hundreds of Canberra Raiders fans were fined for illegal parking around Canberra Stadium on Sunday afternoon during the clash with Manly, after dedicated car parks reached capacity.
Inspectors issued more than $28,000 worth of fines to fans for parking illegally on nature strips or car parks, with 207 fines handed out.
Fines for drivers ranged between $120 and $600.
The parking crackdown came as the Raiders had their biggest crowd for a regular season game since 2010, with 20,256 fans attending the stadium.
The large crowds at the stadium saw car parks used for large events reach capacity, forcing fans to find other areas to park their car.
With the Raiders playing their last home game for the regular season in two weeks time and the potential for a home final after that, Dr Burton said the parking issues seen at the stadium could continue to get worse unless changes were made.
"The first and foremost thing we should be doing is looking at access to and from the stadium and improve public transport routes," Dr Burton said.
"The Raiders reaching the finals are a good thing, but we need to get the message out to people that you can't expect to drive to the stadium and park right at the front door.
"In the short term, we can look to temporary traffic management to ensure that we can get buses in and out of the stadium.
An ACT government spokeswoman said there were 3000 car parks available at Canberra Stadium, with up to 400 car parks used as overflow at the nearby University of Canberra.
"The majority of infringements were a result of vehicles parked on nature strips or illegally parked in car parks," the spokeswoman said.
"The government regularly receives feedback from local residents about illegal parking during major sporting events and traffic management is put in place to alert drivers to where they can park legally."
The ACT government did not say whether the number of fines handed out during last Sunday's match was greater than the fines handed out during other sporting events.
Dr Burton said illegal parking around stadiums during major events was nothing new, but said current infrastructure would struggle if there were a surge of additional fans attending matches.
"What needs to be provided are additional buses to get to and from the ground," Dr Burton said.
"When you got a surge of 25,000 people all leaving the ground at the same time, it's almost impossible to get everyone in and out quickly and efficiently."
The planning expert said the space was not available to provide enough car spaces for the entire stadium, with car parking stations also expensive to build and maintain.
"We need to change the attitude of people are getting to the ground and we need to re-think about how fans get there," Dr Burton said.
Free public transport is provided for ticket holders to Canberra Stadium during major events.