Vancouver Olympic traffic squeeze begins

The reality of getting around downtown Vancouver during the Olympics is starting to hit home for commuters in the city as more streets were shut down Friday.

Just after 6:00 a.m. PT, detour signs and fences went up at the corner of Quebec Street and Terminal Street.

The changes in the east False Creek area are intended to control security near the Athletes Village and to facilitate pedestrian traffic between the village and two of the prime Games venues, BC Place Stadium and GM Place.

As more routes are closed or restricted, commuters are being urged to try leaving their cars behind and walk or take transit.

'It's crazy' Frustrated Vancouver bike rider

Even bike lanes are being blocked.

"I'm trying to get to work," one regular bike rider told CBC News on Friday.

"But the thing is totally blocked off. The path that I take to work is steadily being eroded."

Another rider towing a small child in a trailer behind his bicycle was also dismayed.

"I'm not going to take my boy on a bike trailer on Main Street. I'll kill him. I'll kill myself. It's crazy!"

Bikes to be barred from SkyTrain

Two-wheeled commuters also found out Friday that bikes would not be allowed on the SkyTrain starting Feb. 8 because of an expected 40 per cent increase in passengers during the Games.

VANOC is using the few Fridays remaining before the Olympics to make traffic pattern changes in the city and to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home and find alternative means of getting to work.

Last week, officials measured car traffic and found a decrease of between two and three per cent and they hoped the next series of Friday experiments would be better. They were aimingfor a 30 per cent reduction in cars downtownby the time the Games start in mid-February.

"It's getting people to think about what they are going to do in February when we start to lose the road capacity," said Terry Wright, VANOC's executive vice-president of services and Games operations.

Road capacity will diminish again Feb. 5 when both the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts running between downtown Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside will be closed until the Olympics are over.