91Èȱ¬

Transport has always been the biggest challenge of the London Olympics. Getty Images.

I think Olympic organisers have made a big mistake with their transport planning for 2012.

It is announced today that the Olympic Route Network (ORN), with its exclusive lanes for athletes, officials and VIPS, will not be introduced until just two days before the opening ceremony on 27 July.

Beijing had its lanes in place 19 days before the opening ceremony in 2008. Athens gave its residents 11 days to get used to them before the 2004 Games started and last year's Vancouver Winter Games introduced restrictions a week before the Games.

Although the announcement will please Londoners who have been worried about how the lanes will affect their businesses, there is a real danger that, without them, the week before the Games will be dominated by transport stories.

Don't forget that a week before the Games, many of the athletes will already be in town travelling to venues for training. The world's media will also be getting used to their daily commute to the Olympic sites.

Without Olympic lanes in place, there is a danger they are going to be late for their appointments.

Transport has always been the biggest challenge of the London Olympics. Being late matters if you are an athlete with a designated training time and it will also become an issue if international reporters end up in traffic jams.

The 12 Olympic Games I have covered have all had the same theme. The week before the Games is like "silly season" for the media. Often there aren't many stories about so everybody is looking for something to focus on before the Games get under way.

In the past I have seen quite small issues suddenly become big news on TV, radio and newspapers across the world.

Even if there are just small transport problems, there is a good chance they are going to get plenty of coverage.

So, the danger for 2012 is that the build-up to the Games is dominated by transport hiccups before the ORN is even in place.

That won't be good for the image of London and the Games, even if the ORN subsequently solves many of the problems in the 48 hours before the opening ceremony.

The damage to the capital's reputation will have been done.

I understand that the organising committee (LOCOG) wanted the lanes in place between one week and two weeks before the opening ceremony - that would have given London drivers time to get used to them and enabled the world to arrive with all restrictions in place.

Clearly, Olympic officials are keen to keep Londoners happy. Of course, many will understand that because taxpayers have dug deep into their pockets for the Games and 2012 want a happy London to welcome the world.

But leaving the introduction of the ORN so late is a gamble which 2012 may regret.

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Remember how plans for a £40m loan from Newham Council to West Ham lead to the deal over the 2012 Olympic Stadium collapsing?

Well, I've learned that a Newham Council meeting on Monday night will discuss how the council wants to fund the future stadium plans. Guess what? They're asking councillors to approve £40m of money from Newham.

The original deal with West Ham collapsed in October because of a legal complaint to the European Commission about the loan which could be regarded as state aid to West Ham.

But it was also controversial because Newham is London's poorest borough and some people questioned whether it should be giving money to a football club at a time of spending cuts.

That second argument still stands as the council discusses whether to give its chief executive, Kim Bromley-Derry, the power to offer the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) money to help rebuild the stadium after the Games.

Newham officials say they want to have a say in how the stadium is run after the Games and need, therefore, to have a legal stake in it. It will be owned by a public body set up by the OPLC.

A spokesman told me that the council would pay back any costs by sharing in the revenue generated by the stadium. It expects to raise the cash either through a loan or by using public funds to buy equity in the public body running the stadium.

But the council will also share the risk if the stadium becomes a white elephant.

West Ham may ask to rent the stadium, instead of sharing in a lease like last time, and it is hoped that the venue could become a successful concert arena.

But after £9.3 billion has been spent on building Olympic facilities, is it right that the poorest part of London should be spending more cash on its future?

It certainly would be a surprise if councillors turned down the proposal.

But, as 91Èȱ¬ London reported at the time, there was controversy over the original loan.

This is the .

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