Traffic police are urging people the use public transport to travel around London
As London celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee many roads across London will be closed to traffic because of royal street parties. In Wandsworth at least 150 roads are scheduled to be closed to vehicles – and this figure is likely to increase between now and June 3.
Many of London’s river crossings will be closed to traffic on that day because of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which will see a flotilla of more than a thousand boats escorting a royal barge along the Thames from Battersea to Tower Bridge.
Some bridges over the Thames will be closed to traffic from 7am on June 3, and most will remain closed to vehicles for most of the day.
Tens of thousands of people are also expected to flock to Battersea Park where a huge Diamond Jubilee festival is being staged to coincide with the river pageant. This is also likely to have an impact on traffic congestion in the area.
Normal Sunday parking rules may also be changed across London on June 3, meaning divers will have fewer places to park their cars.
As well as planning ahead for journeys over the Diamond Jubilee weekend, people are also being urged to start thinking now about how they will travel around town during the Olympics. This week, the London 2012 organisers, Transport for London, Network Rail and the train operating companies published a list of travel hotspots around the capital that are likely to be extremely busy while the Games are on.
An extra three million journeys are expected on the busiest days of the Games, with the Docklands Light Railway, the Jubilee line and the Central line the most heavily affected. Among the 58 tube and rail stations identified as hotspots are Bank, Earls Court, Victoria, London Bridge, Waterloo, Embankment, Chancery Lane, Holborn, Canary Wharf, Canada Water and Mile End.
Stations on the District Line like Southfields are also expected to be busy during the first week of the Games while the Tennis competition is staged at the All England Club.
People who need to travel around London during the course of the Games are being advised to plan their journeys carefully and explore possible alternative options by visiting www.getaheadofthegames.com.
April 27, 2012