Olympic road markings painted on London roads

Date: 3/7/2012

The latest preparation for the London 2012 Olympics to be put in place is road markings designed to manage traffic on the capital's roads during the event.

Iconic Olympic rings have been painted in order to mark out 30 miles of tarmac which will be out of use for motorists between July 27th and August 12th this year.

Instead the lanes will be used by athletes, officials, sponsors and the media as a means of moving freely around London without being caught up in traffic and therefore delayed.

There will be 80,000 people who fit into these categories and without the lanes specifically restricted for their use it would be difficult to hold such an event.

In response to objections from locals, (TfL) Transport for London is keen to encourage people to use their bikes or walk to their destinations instead.

Plans have been put in place to facilitate this with 8,000 self service bicycles positioned around the capital and walking maps to be distributed at Underground rail stations.

TfL hopes that this will lead to an extra 16 per cent of the London population opting for these modes of transport over using their cars.

A report into the projected effectiveness of the measures indicates that the uptake is more likely to stand at around five per cent, however.

Other transport infrastructure which is being highlighted to help people to travel around London includes river and canal boats, as well as the newly opened cable car and park and ride schemes.

Commuters have been aware of the transport situation this summer for a long time with posters positioned in key positions to remind them to consider alternative travel plans.

Others have been allowed to work from home or remote locations in order to avoid getting into the office, by their employers who understand the problems which may arise.

Peter White, professor of public transport systems at the University of Westminster, told Reuters: "One can't guarantee it will be 100 percent trouble-free, (but) I think all reasonable efforts have been made to anticipate the likely demand and encourage alternative measures."

Posted by Mary Treen

Transport News and Transport Consulting News