Jams in London as Olympic lanes come into force

Wednesday 25 July 2012

The first day of Olympics-only traffic Games Lanes caused congestion for rush-hour drivers today.

There were jams on a number of roads including the A4 and A40 in west London, Hyde Park Corner and Euston Road.

A total of 30 miles of Games Lanes have been introduced as part of the 109-mile Olympic Route Network (ORN) around London.

The lanes, in operation from 6am to midnight throughout the Olympics, run alongside existing lanes and are clearly marked.Any "ordinary" motorist going into the Games Lanes faces fines of £130, while release fees for impounded vehicles could be £200.The lanes are being used by authorised "Olympic Family" vehicles. These include vehicles used by athletes, Olympic officials and VIPs, with 1,300 vehicles an hour expected to use them.Despite repeated warnings to motorists to avoid central London, there were queues around the lanes today.There was congestion on the M4 in west London, while on the nearby A4 there were jams in Chiswick.There were also hold-ups for motorists on the A12 at the Lea Interchange in east London and at the A13 Canning Town Flyover.The A40 around Ealing and at Westway in west London was also congested, while Grosvenor Place in Victoria in central London and the Hyde Park Corner Junction were also busy.Other areas of London where there were rush-hour jams included Tower Bridge and Baker Street.Kevin Delaney, former head of traffic at the Metropolitan Police and now head of road safety at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "London's roads are at capacity or close to it throughout the day. If you reduce the capacity for ordinary traffic on the Games routes up to 50%, then you have to reduce the amount of cars by the same amount."Many drivers will switch to public transport, which will also be used by many thousands of spectators, so the potential is there for even a small incident to bring London to a standstill. We urge drivers to heed the 'get ahead of the Games' advice to avoid driving on these routes during the Olympics."

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Jams in London as Olympic lanes come into force

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