Fast lane to the games
12 August 1998The kerbside lane both ways on Victoria Road will form the main part of a dedicated traffic lane available only to approved Olympic vehicles travelling between the CBD and Homebush Bay for 26 days around the Games, the Olympics Minister, Mr Knight, announced yesterday.
The Olympic Park Route, as it will be called, will operate from 5am to midnight from Monday, September 11, 2000 (four days before the Games begin) to Friday October 6, five days after the closing ceremony, and no parking will be allowed during that time.
Mr Knight said the Olympic restrictions would only operate on those parts of the route where there were three lanes operating in one direction to ensure private motorists always had two lanes available to them.
Private motorists wanting to turn off the Olympic Route, which includes Church Street, Concord Road and Homebush Bay Drive, will be able to travel in the Olympic lane for 100 metres to allow them to turn into side streets.
Mr Knight said these lanes would be used by buses for athletes, spectators, officials, media and sponsors, Olympic car pool vehicles, public transport buses, emergency vehicles, accredited service vehicles and bicycles.
This route is the first in a series of Olympic routes which will operate during the Games under the authority of the Olympic Roads and Transport Authority (ORTA).
ORTA wrote yesterday to businesses and residents along Victoria Road offering to discuss ways of minimising disruption.
But the president of the Gladesville Chamber of Commerce, Mr Reg Cain, said businesses wanted compensation because they would be heavily damaged by the ban on parking.
"We are the biggest strip centre between Parramatta and the city. All those shops on the strip rely on parking to survive.
"You are going to lose part of your livelihood ... it could hurt quite a few people, it could even send them to the wall."
Mr Knight ruled out compensation and said he wanted to minimise disruption by measures such as encouraging shoppers to park in side streets.
But Mr Cain said side streets were already full with commuters who park there before taking buses to the city. He said his members would meet next week to plan a campaign "to let them know we are not happy about it".
