May 23, 2006
Traffic congestion, pollution concerns for Beijing Olympics
BEIJING
Beijing is drafting contingency plans to alleviate the city’s smothering traffic and smog during the 2008 Olympics.
Jiang Xiaoyu, a vice-president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said the contingencies were needed to complement long-term strategies to improve road and air conditions to ensure the Games’ success.
In addition to earmarking lanes on some city roadways for Olympic vehicles, Jiang said banning cars and other measures he did not specify were being considered.
“We’re striving to achieve better air quality by the 2008 Games to welcome the athletes and the Olympic family,” Jiang told a news conference at the end of a three-day inspection visit by the International Olympic Committee.
Traffic and pollution have emerged as key problems for Beijing to surmount in its preparations for the Games and stand in contrast to the smooth construction of Olympic venues.
Soaring car ownership regularly bathes the city in a brown haze and clogs roads, lengthening daily commutes and frustrating citizens and officials.
In a sign of the scale of the problem, the IOC inspectors’ visit occurred as a sandstorm raked the city, fouling the air.
For much of the tour the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau recorded severely polluted air in the capital.
Despite the conditions, IOC members said they were impressed by Beijing’s preparations.
A tour of venues under construction especially impressed.
“You can’t think of any other word than ‘stunning’,” said Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC’s co-ordination committee.
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