It was a winter wallop no one expected, but December's snowy blast shut down streets, exposed the weaknesses of Metro Vancouver's transit system and paralyzed the airport.
People haven't forgotten the heavy snow, salt trucks, digging themselves out of situations, spinning wheels -- and going nowhere. But for some, it's their job to figure out what happened, and not only fix it, but to prevent it from happening during the 2010 Games.
The graders, which leveled the snow on the streets, were an invaluable piece of equipment this winter. It's too expensive to have an army of them on standby, but Manager of Vancouver's Street Operations, Murray Wightman plans to put a couple more on retainer.
More snow blowers are also in the works, and there will be a crackdown on time off during the Olympics. So if the snow does start tumbling down, up to 800 workers are available to tackle it.
"I'm more comfortable having an event like the Olympics in February than in December and that's going on a lot of years of experience of snowfalls in February. It doesn't excuse it, but if something happens, we'll be there," says Wightman
Anyone who relied on transit to get around this winter knows it was spotty at best. Hundreds of buses got stuck -- some because of the snow, others because the trolley wires froze.
SkyTrain wasn't immune either. Tree branches loaded down with snow fell onto the tracks, and communication cables split because of the cold.
Those trees are now being pruned...and crews are being strategically placed to troubleshoot technical problems.
"By 2010, there will be a lot more SkyTrain cars. We'll be able to run, if not shorter gaps, than longer trains all the way through," says Drew Snider of TransLink.
Next February, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) officials are expecting about 2.5 million people to move through the airport.
So what happens if there's a big snow fall?
"We will be adding more equipment to the runway and clearing sections. Have a few more people on the apron clearing team, and look carefully at a central de-icing facility run by the airport," says Don Ehrenholz, VP of Airport Operations,
A special airport team has also consulted with other Olympic cities, looking for ways to improve operations -- everything from keeping extra staff at the airport in case of blocked roads, to off-site check-in facilities to help ease the exodus.
"We have every contingency for almost everything imaginable that could hit a small city. Everything from flooding to earthquakes to snow to stranded passengers," says Ehrenholz,
The airport will practice some of those scenarios this year. But the big test will be when the world is watching in 2010.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry
