The first of the Olympics Games lanes comes into operation on Monday – on the M4, which has only just reopened following repairs.
There had been fears that the work on the damaged flyover near junction 2 of the motorway in west London would not be completed in time for the Olympic traffic-only lane to be used.
But work was completed so that the closed stretch could be opened last Friday.
This first Games lane is at the site of the previous M4 bus lane which operated for 3.5 miles between junctions 3 and 2 on the London-bound carriageway.
The M4 lane, which will be in operation between 5am and 10pm, is being introduced early to cope with the beginning of the big rush of Olympic arrivals starting tomorrow at nearby Heathrow airport.
The M4 is part of the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and provides an important access route for members of the “Games Family” including athletes, their officials and equipment arriving at Heathrow for their journey to the Olympic Village in Stratford, east London.
Around 80 per cent of Games Family arrivals are expected to pass through this way.
Within the ORN are 30 miles of Games lanes which will become operational on 25 July – two days before the Olympic opening ceremony.
The Games lanes will be clearly marked and will operate alongside existing traffic. All road users will be able to go into the lanes when they are not in use overnight.
Those who stray into operational Games lanes face a penalty charge of £130, while illegally parked vehicles will be removed to a pound and may incur a release fee of £200.
On Sunday, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt defended beleaguered security giant G4S, insisting it was “completely normal” for contractors on projects like the London Olympics to fail to meet their commitments.
Mr Hunt said the firm had been “quite honourable” in the way it had accepted responsibility for the debacle which has seen 3,500 extra troops being drafted in after it was unable to deliver the promised numbers of security guards.
The Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, admitted that he had not received a cast-iron guarantee from G4S that 3,500 troops were all that the MoD would be asked to provide.
He said: “It’s not about having a guarantee. We are all in this together. We are determined to make these Games safe, easy to use and secure, and if we need to find additional people, we will find additional people.
“But at the moment we have only been asked to provide an additional 3,500.”