Despite having several incredibly ambitious aspects to the VANOC plan for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games the planning, preparations, and construction continue on-pace and largely on budget and without any significant hiccups.
The VANOC plans include several ambitious projects. A nearly $1B improvement of the Sea to Sky highway that travels from Vancouver to Whistler should drastically increase the safety of the route and also decrease the travel time during the games from nearly 2 hours to less than 90 minutes. This will be achieved in part by only allowing 'local' traffic, buses, and emergency personnel on the route.
The Athletes Village in Vancouver is probably the most ambitious constructions projects Vancouver has ever seen. Some 20 buildings are being constructed as a part of the sustainable community striving for LEED Gold or Platinum certification. The Village also has the new Canada Line LRT at it's doorstep allowing easy connections between Downtown Vancouver, Richmond Centre, the Vancouver International Airport and everything in between.
The new Vancouver Convention Centre which will house the International Media during the Olympics is probably the most ambitious single building every constructed in Vancouver. Months were spent pile driving in Burrard Inlet during the creation of the new land that the centre would sit on. The sleek design showcases the stunning views of Coal Harbour, Stanley Park and the North Shore Mountains. This beautiful building also features a green roof.
In addition to these projects there are many other venues being constructed and of course the Canada Line bringing rapid transit from the Airport to Richmond and Vancouver.
In many ways one could say that the progress that VANOC is making is quite boring. In this case, boring is good.
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