Olympic Cycling Road Races – advice to drivers

19 July 2012

Drivers planning to travel through Surrey on the days of the Olympic Road Cycling events are strongly advised to leave extra time for their journeys and plan ahead.

While no closures, apart from slip road closures on the A3 at Esher Common junction and at Painshill, are planned on the roads managed by the Highways Agency, many of the local roads managed by Surrey County Council will be closed while the cycling events takes place on Saturday 28 July, Sunday 29 July and Wednesday 1 August. This means there will be more traffic on other roads, particularly the Highways Agency major roads such as the M25.

Nicky Potts, Highways Agency, South East Regional Operations Manager, said: "We know the roads in and around Surrey will be either closed or very busy on the days of the Olympic Road Cycling events, and that means a lot of traffic which would normally use local roads will use major routes such as the M25. We are working to manage the whole of the strategic road network so congestion and delays are minimised around venues and on the roads we manage during the Games. We will have patrols at key locations to ensure a swift response to any incidents, we are lifting roadworks on key routes and we are displaying messages on our motorway message signs alerting drivers to Games-time traffic conditions. We are asking people to plan ahead of their journey particularly in this area, whether you are on day-to-day business, or heading off on your summer holidays, and may be travelling from Kent to Heathrow, for example, or on a day trip. Our advice to drivers is simple: plan ahead and allow more time for your journeys in this area."

Helyn Clack, Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Community Services and the 2012 Games, said: "Surrey will become a massive Olympic venue on the days the Olympic road cycling events take place in the county. Hundreds of roads will be closed so we're urging people to plan ahead and avoid driving in the area if you can as it will be very difficult to get around. If you want to catch the action, the best way will be to walk or use public transport where possible. Everything people need to plan ahead is available at gosurrey.info so we'd urge people to take a look so they can make the most of the events, while helping us minimise any disruption."

The Olympic Road Cycling Road Races take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July.

On these days, besides the closures on roads managed by Surrey County Council, the exit slip roads from both carriageways of the A3 to the A244 at Esher Common junction will be closed from 6am.

The Time Trial takes place on Wednesday 1 August. On this day, besides the local road closures, the southbound A3 exit slip road at Painshill will be closed from 8.30am. Drivers travelling northbound who exit the A3 at Painshill will only be able to turn left to Byfleet and Woking; it will not be possible to access Cobham until the race is finished and adjacent roads are reopened.

The Highways Agency is working to ensure that traffic keeps moving on motorways and major roads in England throughout the Games period.

Highways Agency traffic officers and incident support units will be ready to deal with any incidents as quickly as possible and we will be positioning patrols at key locations to ensure a swift response.

The Agency is working to complete all programmed road works schemes on key routes in advance of the Games, and to further reduce pressure on the roads. The Agency will also be suspending all non-essential roadworks on key routes during the day to keep as many lanes as possible available to traffic.

During the Games (from 6am on 23 July until 14 September), there will be no planned roadworks on roads we manage which form part of the Olympic Route Network, or Alternative Olympic Route Network. Our service providers will be permitted at night to carry out essential maintenance but all roadworks will have to be cleared before the next day.

The Agency will also be putting in place special arrangements to suspend charges to help keep traffic moving at the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, if there is severe congestion during the Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Share this article