Olympic traffic yet to paralyze Vancouver

Walk, bike, take transit. Better yet, stay home from work or school or whatever activities your life consisted of before the Olympics took over Vancouver. Above all else, do not drive your car.

For months, Lower Mainland residents have been bombarded with those messages.

But so far, traffic really hasn’t been bad. In fact–and I’m hesitant to divulge this secret–driving the streets of Downtown Vancouver the last couple of days has been a breeze.

Yesterday (February 11), with the Olympic torch relay just 20 minutes behind me, I prepared for the worst and raced across town, driving from Broadway and Granville to Horseshoe Bay.

Even with the arrogance to take the Lions Gate Bridge, the drive didn’t take me longer than half an hour.

This morning, I made the same journey in reverse and the ride was just as smooth. I left Horseshoe Bay around 9:15 a.m. and was at my desk in 25 minutes.

No line-up on the Lions Gate. And even with the Olympic torch dodging protesters in the Downtown Eastside, I sailed down Georgia Street and over the Burrard Street Bridge.

Am I just that lucky? Is this the calm before the storm? Or has Vanoc succeeded with its laborious efforts to convince locals to stay off the roads?

Regardless, for the duration of the Games, I will still be taking transit whenever possible. But it is reassuring to know that my city’s streets are still functioning, at least for now.

You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.