Is the traffic as bad as it is been portrayed on the news or is there a touch of journalistic bull involved?
Any of you London boys affected by the Olympic traffic chaos
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Took an extra 5 mins to get into work so no big change for me. Worse thing will probably be the mouth breathers that block access to tube stations etc.
Palfrem
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I have to be in Picadilly on the 1 August for about 11:00 - I'm travelling into Marylebone from Birmingham and then 3 stops on Bakerloo.
How much longer should I give myself ?
How much longer should I give myself ?
grumpyoldgit
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It must be awful and I don't think enough consideration has been given to the thousands of daily commuters or the residents. They obviously aren't as important and must be pretty p****d off, or will be by the time the games finish.
Why London anyway?
Why London anyway?
Allow an extra 30 mins max. They reckon Baker Street will be busier than normal up to 10.30am in the morning but you should be OK passing through it..
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I'd set off no later than 2pm today if I were you, just to be on the safe side...Palfrem said:
My original plan was to cycle in to work Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu but in the end will only have managed Monday and today. My plan only had one flaw; as a Londoner who cycles to the office I was quite happy in my little London bubble. 95% of my colleagues, however, live outside of London and are now merrily setting up meetings in places that make sense to them but are a real PITA for me! How annoying 
Cycling has generally been fine except for streets near Russell Square (it's being used as a coach terminus). Other than that the roads seemed pretty empty today on my route - I suspect a lot of drivers are just steering clear. The office tself is like the Marie Celeste as most folks would have come in via Waterloo - and that's a big no-no.
On Tuesday I had to drive out of town to somewhere off the M25 J18. That was a pain as joining the A40 was very difficult - the phasing of the lights has obviously been changed already to give priority to the A40 Olympic lanes so instead of 30-40 vehicles joining at any given time it's now nearer 10. And they've coned off the outside lane of the A40 on the way back in near Hanger Lane I think which was causing delays last night.
Tomorrow I need to drive that way again to get to Stockley Park *sigh*.
So in summary it's all fine as long as (a) you cycle and (b) you don't try to leave.
Cycling has generally been fine except for streets near Russell Square (it's being used as a coach terminus). Other than that the roads seemed pretty empty today on my route - I suspect a lot of drivers are just steering clear. The office tself is like the Marie Celeste as most folks would have come in via Waterloo - and that's a big no-no.
On Tuesday I had to drive out of town to somewhere off the M25 J18. That was a pain as joining the A40 was very difficult - the phasing of the lights has obviously been changed already to give priority to the A40 Olympic lanes so instead of 30-40 vehicles joining at any given time it's now nearer 10. And they've coned off the outside lane of the A40 on the way back in near Hanger Lane I think which was causing delays last night.
Tomorrow I need to drive that way again to get to Stockley Park *sigh*.
So in summary it's all fine as long as (a) you cycle and (b) you don't try to leave.
Mike Walker
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You may want to leave tonight just in case!
I was at Cannon Street station on Monday evening when it was announced that a train had broken down between London Bridge and Lewisham and was blocking routes into Kent. Delay anticipated went from 20 mins to 1 hour in about a 5 minute period. Concourse was completely full and not many trains leaving so took evasive action and went by tube to Victoria instead.
An extrea 1 million people a day acccording to Boris's regular messages so could get very interesting next week and beyond.
grumpyoldgit
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***Breaking news Olympics have been extended to October, hopefully all athletes will be through passport control by then***
I have to go gatwick Sunday afternoon from leytonston east London, the route I normaly would use takes me past the olympic stadium and through the Blackwall tunnel. So now aim going to have to do an extra 30 on the round trip and pay £3 in toll charges for using the dartford crossing. 
I just went running from Waterloo Bridge to Southwark Bridge and back. Southbank for the outwards stretch and Embankment for the return.
Embankment is already very congested. The Olympic lane was in operation on the Eastbound carriageway. All the regular traffic condensed into a very slow-moving semi-traffic jam. Normally there is free flowing traffic at all times. Quite a few sideroads closed off and pedestrian crossings turned off. Plus pedestrian barriers are already up (presumably for some sort of road race to come).
Presumably lots of knock-on effects on the side roads.
I'm glad I don't have a driving job.....
Embankment is already very congested. The Olympic lane was in operation on the Eastbound carriageway. All the regular traffic condensed into a very slow-moving semi-traffic jam. Normally there is free flowing traffic at all times. Quite a few sideroads closed off and pedestrian crossings turned off. Plus pedestrian barriers are already up (presumably for some sort of road race to come).
Presumably lots of knock-on effects on the side roads.
I'm glad I don't have a driving job.....
Howard
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A nightmare for everyone round my way ( SW London )
I'm not allowed to say that though , as anyone who critisises Seb Coe and his big sports day is obviously an unbeleiver / alien / communist / subversive
We must all hail big sports day and thank Mr Coe for all he has done for us little people.
I'm not allowed to say that though , as anyone who critisises Seb Coe and his big sports day is obviously an unbeleiver / alien / communist / subversive
We must all hail big sports day and thank Mr Coe for all he has done for us little people.
stevieb15
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It's here now so irrespective we may as well all get on and enjoy it.
We'd budgeted for a slow August with much of our business being in London and SE but it looks as if its going to be the first bumper month since April....so much for planning!
We'd budgeted for a slow August with much of our business being in London and SE but it looks as if its going to be the first bumper month since April....so much for planning!
I agree. I have stopped being a grumpy old cynic and am actually getting quite a buzz seeing all the activity. Plus I have now got my dibs on tickets for the opening and closing concerts* in Hyde Park for me and Mrs LS. Plus some beach volleyball for the family on Horseguard's Parade.
The R5 Live coverage has been great, recently. Even Peter whats-his-name on the afternoon news show was getting right into the spirit yesterday. And he's by far the grumpiest man on the radio.
*I'll have seen Blur in New York, Glastonbury and at the London Olympics. Happy days.
Spinal
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Monday morning a 80 mile journey on the M25 took me 4 hours... I did get to see a van with a" NL Olympic Team" sticker on the side... something to do with water based on the sponsors stickers...
Yesterday, a 37 mile journey on the M40/M25 took me about 2 hours... and another 2 hours to get back in the evening...
So it's all chaos from my side... Luckily most of my clients understand and are happy for me to work from home... I feel sorry for anyone that needs to go into London...
M.
Yesterday, a 37 mile journey on the M40/M25 took me about 2 hours... and another 2 hours to get back in the evening...
So it's all chaos from my side... Luckily most of my clients understand and are happy for me to work from home... I feel sorry for anyone that needs to go into London...
M.
Sp!ke
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I'm really looking forward to see how high someone can jump and how far someone can throw a ball thing. Well no, actually I have no interest and neither does most of the population given the normally empty track and field events we have.
This particular Olympics has made me realise what a big money making sham it all is. I best be careful using 'Olympics' or locog will be after me for loss of advertising revenue.
This particular Olympics has made me realise what a big money making sham it all is. I best be careful using 'Olympics' or locog will be after me for loss of advertising revenue.
