Olympic travel chaos as M4 reopening delayed
London faces more Olympic travel chaos with the opening of the M4 motorway from Heathrow delayed.
With athletes due to arrive in large numbers from the weekend, the failure to repair the stretch of motorway earmarked as a key artery for the Games is the latest problem to hit the capital as it prepares to host the Olympics for the first time since 1948.
It follows renewed complaints of lengthy immigration delays at Heathrow which, along with the M4, will be the gateway to London.
On Monday the M4 from Heathrow will officially become part of the Olympic Route Network, with one lane on each carriageway reserved for competitors, officials and sponsors.
Traffic is being diverted because of structural work needed repair cracks in the viaduct between junctions 2 and 3 at Boston Manor, west London.
It had been hoped that the motorway could re-open Thursday morning but, according to the Highways Agency, more time is needed because of the “complexity of the operation”.
A spokesman said he hoped the work would be completed in a “few days”, but was unable to guarantee that this would done by the weekend.
Should the work not be completed by Monday an alternative Route Network would be put in place using the adjacent A4, although it is unlikely to have segregated games lanes.
Meanwhile the new cable car service across the Thames, linking Olympics venues on both sides of the river, was suspended for 33 minutes because of fears of a lightning strike.
Telegraph
