Jan 09 2009
No snow during The Winter Olympics
Vancouver must be hoping that it doesn’t snow during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The city has not coped with the snowy winter weather during the last fortnight. Roads have been treacherous for days because of the lack of snow ploughs and The Skytrain has been closed down at various times. Flights, almost all Air Canada, have been cancelled by the dozen and the infrastructure at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has creaked at the seams. The authorities have been unable or unwilling to keep the runways clear, so that flights, including mine from Heathrow, have been diverted to Seattle/Tacoma in the Land of the Free. Thanks to YVR’s incompetence, my fingerprints and retina scan are now on a US Homeland Department database. Thanks Vancouver International Airport! No-one from the airport was there to apologise to the passengers when we arrived almost 1 day late. Luckily British Airways, unlike Air Canada, provided an overnight hotel and $69 of food vouchers.
On my way to the UK, my flight was delayed by 2.75 hours because the airport took 2 hours to load the bags for my flight and then didn’t de-ice the Jumbo Jet properly, having a further go at getting it right, just before the plane reached the runway. Luckily, British Airways made up enough time so that I could catch my connection at Heathrow; many others weren’t so lucky – I just hope these passengers remembered that it was 100% the airport’s fault and not the airline’s.
Treacherous roads, a faulty Skytrain, and a malfunctioning airport aren’t options during the Winter Olympics; they will all have to be open and running smoothly with 100,000 extra visitors in the city during The Games. Anything less and the city will be a laughing stock, especially when it has billed itself as ‘The Best Place on Earth’. You can see why The Vancouver Olympic Committee (Vanoc) has recently pleaded with people not to drive into the city during the Olympics. Vanoc also asked businesses to consider either closing during those two weeks or to change their working hours. Vanoc must be scared that the heavy traffic and bad drivers will stop visitors getting to their events on time.
I lived in Vancouver back in the 80s and I remember eastern state’s TV cameras setting up on the streets to get the funny video of Vancouverites not being able to drive!
Lis http://travelover30s.today.com
Some Vancouverites don’t drive too well when there’s no snow - visitors beware especially at crosswalks/crossings. On Sunday January 18th, someone set fire to the Pattullo Bridge across the Fraser River at New Westminster. This route will be out of use for around one month, so the traffic infrastructure is creeking again, even though the snow has almost all gone.