Glasgow City Council

If last Sunday's big road race in Glasgow is anything to go by, the city is in for a shock when it comes to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Parts of Glasgow city centre were completely closed to traffic - which is understandable - but less comprehensible was the fact that many people were shut inside their own homes with no prior warning that they would be unable to leave or arrive by car - between the hours of 9am and 6pm.

Access on to London Road, for example, was blocked by a huge long row of interlocking metal barriers - which meant that if you had to get somewhere on that day, that you could not travel by car.

Not a great disaster you might think, though that view was certainly not shared by local people - including one chap who had arranged to move out of his house and building that day - only to be told that he would not be able to do so until after 6pm. 

Now the race officials said that Glasgow City Council had 'consulted' everyone about these plans - but this is complete nonsense because I certainly had no idea that parts of the city centre were to be placed in virtual 'lockdown' - for most of the day.

And as I had a pre-arranged appointment in Aberdeen that Sunday, the City Council's idea of 'consultation' had managed to pass me by - along with lots of other local people as well.

In the end, a race official was 'persuaded' to open up the metal barriers and let people go about their lawful business at a suitable break point in the cycle race - otherwise there could well have been a federal incident.

But what a shambles - and when I got back to Glasgow later that day at 7.30pm the barriers were still in place despite assurances that they would all be gone by 6pm.

So it was a case of taking some 'direct action' by removing a bollard or two and opening up a few links in the metal chain - just in order to return safely home.

Now the road race was organised by Glasgow Life which is an 'arms length' organisation from Glasgow City Council - yet for the most part Glasgow Life is effectively controlled by the Council. 

Either way, whether Glasgow Life was responsible or Glasgow City Council - the whole thing was a mess and a poor advert for next year's Commonwealth Games. 

Which is a great pity because these high-profile international events can bring great benefits to a city like Glasgow - so long as the organisers remember to stop and think for a minute about the interests of local people.