Vancouver 2010: Traffic Update

Thinking of coming to Vancouver in 2010 – leave your car at home. I mean, it’s not like you’ll be able to actually drive it anyway!

Virtually every major street in the downtown core and those that feed it cars and pedestrians will be under some sort of restriction or even closure during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Georgia, Hastings, Pender, Burrard, Howe, Seymour and Broadway will include Olympic lanes around the clock; open only to those vehicles permitted by VANOC.

Parking restrictions will exist on Burrard, Granville, Cambie and Main streets.

No-go, red security zones will surround B.C. Place, GM Place, the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts and the entire Southeast False Creek Olympic Village. The Vancouver Convention Centre will also be a red, no-go security zone.

Granville Mall, Robson, Beatty and Hamilton streets will be designated noon to midnight pedestrian corridors. The David Lam Park and EasyPark live sites have been designated official venues and have a pedestrian corridor, too, via Yaletown. Maps show the Olympic lanes stopping at the Lions Gate and Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows bridges, but there will be various optimized signals and traffic control staff to ease the flow across Burrard Inlet.

A similar strategy is being employed in Whistler on Hwy. 99.

Langara College, BCIT, SFU and Capilano University will be the main departure hubs. The south foot of No. 8 Road in Richmond is the main fleet parking lot.

The south foot of Boundary Road is a fleet depot.

VANOC declared 65 installations as venues. The full list wasn't provided, but non-spectator venues include the Games' warehouse in Delta's Tilbury Industrial Park.

So, what does this mean to be you might ask? My experience with Vancouver is that is not that driver friendly at the best of time – during the Olympics it is going to be downright brutal! See you in 2010 – pack comfortable shoes!