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Wednesday 13 June 2012

Here come the Zil lanes

When the planning was being done for the London Olympics the aspect that worried me the most, apart from the terrorist threat of course, was transport. My heart sunk even further when I read that Olympic Lanes would be created to allow athletes but also IOC officials, sponsors and media to waft through London whilst Londoners sat in the reduced lanes left to them. At the time this was something that I put to the back of my mind and I carried on with life.

However over the last few days it has started to hit home how affected I and London will be. The template markings for the Zil lanes have started to appear: I have noticed them on the A4, the A40 and the A406 (North Circular Road). As I sat in traffic on the A4 the other day I realised how much worse it would be when one third of the lanes is put out of action so the IOC fat cats, their corporate friends and our media masters are not inconvenienced by London's traffic.

This site shows the road changes that are planned and in case you are worried, Transport for London whilst admitting that the special lanes will create 'hotspots' at certain places such as the Euston Road say that 'doomsday' will be avoided if drivers plan ahead to avoid the busiest times of day. Because we can all change our work times for the length of the Olympics and Paralympics, can't we.

So when you are sat in stationary traffic on the Euston Road whilst the odd logo'd BMW and BBC van speed past in an otherwise empty Zip lane I am sure that you, like I, will just sit and take it...?

The fine for unauthorised use of a Zil lane is £130, can they fine us all if we use them en masse? I am a Londoner, born and bred. I was here before London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and I will be here long after the thrill of watching the beach volleyball has dissipated. It's my city and I don't see why I should have to make way for the IOC chiefs, corporate chiefs and the likes of the BBC.

1 comment:

Davieboy said...

Well said NaS!