The Independent reports that sponsors will be able to use the special temporary games lanes on the Olympic Route Network, despite initial insistence that they would be reserved for "athletes, officials, media and others working at the Games".
The lanes are already proving controversial - breakdown trucks, private cars, taxis and bicycles won't be allowed in, some pedestrian crossings will be removed while in other areas traffic lanes will be closed to give pedestrians more room - and the news that corporate sponsors will be able to whizz past the rest of the traffic is likely to make road users see red. The Telegraph has worked out that sponsors and stakeholders only represent about 8% of the available tickets, it's the perception of company "fat cats" getting preferential treatment that will do the damage (we do hope they'll also have to go through the airport-style security checks once on site).
Meanwhile, although TfL has talked about amending traffic signal timings, they've strenuously denied a bit of tin-foil-hattery from the Daily Mail, which yesterday claimed that sensors had been buried in roads to change red lights to green at the approach of a VIP car.
Photo by Andy Wilkes from the Londonist Flickr pool
