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ELLEN CREAGER / Detroit Free Press

Residents and visitors alike are being urged to use public transit during February's Winter Games. Extra buses and extended hours will help.

Posted on Sun, Nov. 22, 2009

Transportation hurdles loom at Olympics

By Kristin Jackson

SEATTLE TIMES

There could be a new Olympic event for anyone trying to drive in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, or to Whistler during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in February - marathon traffic snarls.

The winning strategy? Leave your car at home, since there will be strict limits on parking and road access. The restrictions are for security and to enable tens of thousands of Olympic athletes, officials and members of the media to get around during the Olympic Games on Feb. 12-28.

To accommodate the Olympics, normal Vancouver traffic should be cut by at least 30 percent, says the Vancouver Organizing Committee, which issued a final transportation plan in October detailing parking and road restrictions.

In Vancouver, residents and visitors are being urged to take public transit, which will be significantly increased during the Games, or to bike or walk. Olympic events are expected to draw about 135,000 spectators per day in Vancouver and almost 60,000 in Whistler, plus tens of thousands more for medal ceremonies.

Major arterials in Vancouver will have special "Olympic lanes" dedicated to official Olympics vehicles and buses. Some downtown streets around Olympic venues will be closed for security, including areas near the BC Place stadium - which will host the opening and closing ceremonies plus medal ceremonies - and nearby Canada Hockey Place, beginning in mid-January.

Other downtown streets, such as Robson Street and part of Granville Street, will be turned into pedestrian corridors from noon to midnight during the Games. Street parking will be very limited in central Vancouver, and spectator parking will not be available at any of the Olympic venues.

In Whistler, there will be virtually no public parking during the Olympics, since day-skier lots will be turned into staging areas for downhill ski races, luge, and other events. Private-vehicle access to Whistler will be restricted during peak times. Spectators are being encouraged to ride shuttle buses to Whistler from the airport or downtown Vancouver.

Those who do want to drive to Whistler must have a permit showing they have confirmed parking at a home or hotel/condo. A checkpoint will be set up on the Sea to Sky Highway north of Squamish (near Alice Lake), with permits required from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Feb. 11 through Feb. 28. Visitors with Whistler lodging reservations should check with their hotels about parking permits. No permits will be required outside those hours or for southbound traffic.

Other snow sports competitions - snowboarding and freestyle skiing - will be held at Cypress Mountain on the northern outskirts of Vancouver. The road to Cypress will be closed to private vehicles; spectators must take shuttle buses.

Vancouver is beefing up its public transit with extra buses and extended hours, plus a third SeaBus passenger ferry from downtown to North Vancouver. The new Canada Line light rail, part of the SkyTrain network, opened recently and connects downtown Vancouver with the airport and suburban Richmond, where skating events will be held at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Get details on Vancouver public transit at www.translink.ca. (Visitors with official ticket/lodging packages have transport included.)

On the south shore of downtown's False Creek inlet, a new Olympic Line streetcar will operate for free on a 1.5-mile, little-used rail line. The south side of False Creek will be an Olympics hub, with the athletes' village and various Canadian provinces' Olympic pavilions at one end and the public market, shops, and entertainment of Granville Island at the other.

The streetcar will run from Jan. 21 to March 21. (For details, see http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/gettingaround/publictransit.)

On the southeast side of False Creek, pedestrian access to a section of its waterfront path, a walking/biking route around False Creek, will be closed through the Olympics. The path passes in front of the athletes' village. Some other major roads near Olympics venues will start closing in mid-January.

Major Vancouver and Whistler hotels have been booked for more than a year for Olympics officials and those with lodging/ticket packages. (Room/ticket Olympics packages for U.S. residents are sold only through CoSport, the officially designated provider, www.cosport.com)

A few smaller hotels have vacancies, and there are signs that some rooms may open up closer to the start of the Games, as some bookings are released.

In Whistler, Pan Pacific hotels recently made some rooms available, but rates start at more than $800 with a five-night minimum stay.

In Vancouver, a company that chartered a cruise ship to serve as lodging during the Olympics briefly dropped some prices by about half to $325 a night per person, double occupancy, to spur bookings, but then prices increased. The ship, the Norwegian Star, will be moored in North Vancouver.

Get links to officially approved lodging at www.2010destinationplanner.com. The site has a chart showing availability during the Olympics at some Vancouver B&Bs and small hotels. Expect high rates and five- to seven-night minimums.