Olympics: Expert says Tokyo roads could handle Games

TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo's transport networks would easily be good enough to host the 2020 Olympics, an expert said on Wednesday, pledging no new road-building if Japan wins the event.

"We won't build anything in particular for the Olympics," an urban planning expert said after briefing a team from the International Olympic Committee who are scrutinising bids by Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul for the 2020 event.

"I explained that transport facilities, being steadily built under Tokyo's various long-term plans, will fully satisfy demand related to the Olympics," said Mr Takayuki Kishii, a professor of engineering at Tokyo's Nihon University.

He said three new ring roads in the capital will be almost completed in a few years and a projected motorway will run by a waterfront site for the athletes' village.