Living Near Dorney Lake

At South Bucks District Council we will promote information about the games to local residents, through this website. Plans are well advanced for dealing with visitors, but the council and its partners are also paying special attention to control the impact on the surrounding areas to ensure that everyday life can carry on
with minimum disruption.

If you live near Dorney Lake you will be affected particularly with regards to travel, access and refuse collections. Select the link below for more information.

• Travel and access
• Refuse collection & street cleansing
• What happens between now and 2012?

At Dorney Lake the Olympic events will run from 28 July - 11 August with 14 Rowing gold medals and 12 Canoe Sprint gold medals to be won. Almost 800 athletes will be competing and 30,000 spectators are expected during this time.

The Paralympic event at Dorney will run from 31 August -2 September with four Rowing gold medals to be won and 96 athletes competing. Up to 10,000 spectators are expected to attend the Paralympic competition. Spectators will be close to the action – some will be seated in temporary stands while others will line the course.

London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for the planning and running of the games. They have set out the following draft proposals for traffic, access and numbers of spectators in their consultation document Making It Happen:

• www.london2012.com  (pdf file)

Temporary facilities will be installed to stage the Games at Dorney. These include areas for athletes and officials, temporary seating, security fencing, catering facilities, and operational and broadcast compounds. After the Games, all temporary seating, temporary facilities and temporary infrastructure will be removed.

A temporary spectator bridge will link Windsor Racecourse and Dorney Lake and for the temporary transport hub at Windsor Racecourse. The purpose of the hub is to provide one pick-up and drop-off point for spectators travelling to and from the venue, thereby reducing traffic in and out of the venue itself.

Traffic and Access
If you live in the area that has been protected for residents parking you will have received a letter from Buckinghamshire County Council regarding parking restrictions for more details see Parking Permits .
Set out below are LOCOG’s plans for traffic and access:

Competitors
Athletes competing at Dorney will be based in Egham as it is close to the competition venue and will minimise travel time for the competitors. They will travel along the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and will enter the venue from the north via the A4.

The ORN and Paralympic Route Network (PRN) are networks of roads linking all the competition and key non-competition venues for the Games. They will enable key participants, such as athletes and officials, to travel safely, securely and efficiently between venues and their accommodation. Some teams will make their own arrangements for accommodation.

The main roads which make up the ORN will remain open throughout the Games and may only be subject to restrictions for brief periods to allow athletes and officials access to and from events. Further details on the ORN and PRN will be made available later this year.

Spectators
The overall transport strategy for spectators during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is based on the concept of transporting all ticketed spectators to competition venues by public transport, walking or cycling. Our proposed plan for Dorney will make best use of all transport modes and public transport.

Spectators with a valid London 2012 competition ticket will be able to travel free of charge from London to local designated rail stations on the day of competition. There will also be four temporary park-and-ride (P&R) sites. Shuttle bus services will run between the venue and the P&Rs, and the designated rail stations of Slough, Maidenhead and Windsor and Eton Riverside.

For the Olympics, the majority of spectators will travel by shuttle bus along the A308 to a spectator transport hub on Royal Windsor Racecourse. From there, they will enter the venue on foot via the temporary bridge across the Thames. There will also be ample amount of blue badge parking to cater for the demand. There will also be a pedestrian-only entrance adjacent to the main venue entrance.

There will be no provision for spectator parking at the venue apart from a small amount of blue badge parking at Windsor Racecourse. Spectators wishing to drive to the events will need to park in the designated temporary P&R sites and then take a shuttle bus to Windsor Racecourse. It is anticipated that there will be fewer vehicles travelling to the racecourse than at other events held at Windsor Racecourse.

For the Paralympics, Windsor Racecourse is not available therefore we are investigating a location to the north of the venue. The capacity of the Paralympic Games is anticipated to be lower than the Olympic Games. The current transport strategy is to use the same three rail stations and two P&Rs. There will be blue badge parking and secure cycle parking.

Local area wide traffic management schemes, including temporary local parking restrictions and traffic management schemes, will need to be put in place around the venue. This will ensure that visiting spectators cannot park around the venue and local residents are able to access their homes throughout the Games. In conjunction with the local police and the local authorities, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) will consult the communities around Eton, Dorney and Windsor Racecourse on the traffic management plans in summer 2011.

Temporary Spectator Bridge
It is proposed to erect a temporary spectator bridge crossing over the River Thames to enable spectators to reach the Olympic events from the transport hub at Windsor Racecourse. The fully accessible bridge will consist of two metal bridge decks spanning a distance of 45m between the supports on either river bank. The bridge will ensure that the river can be kept open for river traffic during the summer of 2012, although there may need to be some short-term river closures during the construction and removal of the bridge decks.

Construction of the bridge supports is likely to commence in winter 2011 and will take four months. The bridge will not be used for the Paralympic events. Following the Games the bridge will be removed and the area returned to its former condition.

What happens between now and 2012?
Spring 2012
Installation of temporary facilities will begin.

27 July - 12 August 2012 Olympic Games.

Olympic Rowing and Canoe Sprint events from
28 July –11 August 2012.

29 August - 9 September 2012
Paralympic Games.
Paralympic Rowing events from 31 August –
2 September 2012.

September 2012 Removal of temporary facilities.

Useful Links:
Eton Dorney Venue Construction
www.london2012.com/community
24 hour free construction hotline 08000 722 110