Thanks as ever Pete for representing the forum. Nice to have an answer on why the road closure hasn't occurred again despite being a success, albeit with some teething issues, and it's purely down to cost.
Think the issue of people crossing outside of the crossing areas is a symptom rather than a cause. The steps are far too narrow for the volume of people leave via that route and then, when the road isn't' closed, it's a complete bottleneck at the bottom of the steps. It's an accident waiting to happen, only a matter of time before the sheer number of people results in someone at the front being pushed into the road.
There's been incidents at the last two games on that crossing. First was a crash where thankfully nobody was seriously injured. Then at the next game it got to a point where it was so crowded the police temporarily stopped the traffic by parking a van across the junction.
Doesn't help that away supporters aren't directed away from the ground properly so you always end up with them going against the flow of the majority to try and get to the car parks.