Drivers looking to get into Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics should count on taking alternate routes, dealing with long delays, or better yet, leaving their car at home.     

The major traffic changes announced Wednesday by VANOC will close many of Vancouver's main traffic arteries to ordinary traffic, making room for the thousands of athletes coming to the city.

Traffic changes will take effect the first week of February -- two weeks before the Games are scheduled to start -- with the aim of taking 60,000 cars off the road.

"We really do have a message, there is no room for the car," said Terry Wright, organizer for VANOC.

Parts of East Hastings, West Broadway and Cambie streets, as well as Georgia, Burrard, Howe and Seymour streets downtown will be dedicated to official Olympic vehicles 24 hours a day.

Streets closer to Olympic venues, including the Georgia Street Viaduct, will be closed for security reasons.

Twenty-four hour parking restrictions will be in effect through downtown streets between Beatty and Thurlow, as well as Oak, Main, Burrard and Granville streets.

Commuters are encouraged by VANOC to take advantage of increased public transit, including the new Canada Line, SkyTrain -- which will have 48 more cars on the tracks, SeaBus - which will add a third ferry, and the 85 more busses that will be added in the next year.

"It's crucial people look to do things in a different way, transit, walking, cycling are great alternatives, avoiding those peak periods" said Doug Kelsey, CEO of TransLink.

And it's not just Vancouver that will have traffic re-routed.

The Sea to Sky Highway will have heightened security, including a checkpoint north of Squamish and switching counter-flow lanes to ease traffic.

Whistler will have a significant reduction in public parking, and there will be no public parking at any of the Games venues.