Stratford to Wembley - a road to hell, paved with 2012 Olympic gold

By George Scott

WITHIN the scientific confines of the Sportsbeat newsroom, a plan was hatched.

READY TO START: Outside the London 2012 Olympic village, the journey to Wembley Arena was about to commence (Corsa Cam)

Discontent continues to rumble over the London 2012 boxing venue, with organisers Locog wanting to switch from the Excel Centre in the Docklands to Wembley Arena in a bid to save £20m - but the proposal has hit a stumbling block.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) have rubbished organisers' claims that the 17-mile journey from the Olympic Village to north-west London would only take 35 to 45 minutes.

With the two unable to agree - I decided to put the journey to the test.

The date was set - Friday 19th June - and armed only with a Vauxhall Corsa and a sat-nav, my bid to determine the viability of Locog's plans had the green light.

But, as the old adage goes, if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well and, with that in mind, there was research to be done.

A quick flick through the Beijing media guide confirmed the 2008 boxing events usually began at about 10am.

Casting away the reality of a life watching the Games rather than competing, I put myself in the mind of an Olympic hopeful and decided I wanted to arrive at 9am, allowing enough time for the pre-bout Rocky routine.

EMPTY ROADS: A world exclusive picture - London during rush hour with no cars, but will it last? (Corsa Cam)

It would be unfair to say I started the journey blind - out of curiosity more than anything else I had calculated the journey on the AA Route Planner.

The A12, Holloway Road, A1, and North Circular - it read like a map of London's traffic hot spots.

Of course, there are many variations of the trip across London - and it's impossible to say which one organisers would use - but on a Friday morning rush hour, you're bound to hit trouble regardless of whether you prefer your A1 to your A406.

Undeterred, I made my way to Stratford, synchronised my watch and set off at 8:18am - and it started well enough.

With the Olympic site a distant memory, I passed through Hackney as if it wasn't there - so far, so good.

Organisers have tried to convince the AIBA that journey times will be cut by dedicated traffic light phasing and ‘Olympic lanes' but, with many of the roads I encountered having just the one lane, this seems nigh on impossible for some of the journey.

Granted, for much of the trip bus lanes offer the possibility of a dedicated route for competitors, but this is where traffic is at its worst.

TRAFFIC BLACKSPOT: Roadworks snarl up progress as speeds slow down to walking pace, maybe the number plate ahead was an omen - this journey was going bad (Corsa Cam)

As I took a right turn onto Holloway Road - a stones throw from Arsenal's Emirates Stadium - two miles of congestion awaited and, with the clutch going up and down like West Bromwich Albion, I inched my way up to Archway.

Of course, there was no reason for his hold-up - 30 minutes to cover two miles, if you're wondering - and with Archway in sight, the traffic parted in an act of grace even Jesus would be proud of and I was back on my way.

GETTING SILLY: A sea of brake lights ahead as the journey enters north London and its final stretch (Corsa Cam)

A little under one hour had passed and I had ten miles under my belt - all downhill from here I thought.

It wasn't to be though - downhill turned to uphill before a swathe of traffic of Everest proportions proved unrelentless and ensured a snails pace was set for the remaining seven miles.

WEMBLEY IN SIGHT: This march to the arch was more of a crawl but I'd finally reached my destination - nearly (Corsa Cam)

Each time my speed picked up, it was brought to a shuddering halt round only the next corner.

As Wembley neared I had one last hurdle to overcome. With the 133 metre tall arch within touching distance a set of temporary traffic lights - and the fourth set of roadworks of the journey - made the final mile more a death march than a victory lap.

ARRIVAL: But after nearly two hours, where I'd averaged a speed of less than 10mph, it had been a nightmare journey (Corsa Cam)

But I had made it.

One hour and 48 minutes later - and with my average speed a shade over 9mph - I pulled up outside Wembley Arena.

Locog's estimations had proved wildly optimistic - the roads would have to be absolutely clear of traffic to make the journey from east to west in 35 minutes.

It was 10:06am and, had I been competing, my fight would be entering the third round but without me there. 

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