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Creekside to lose parking spaces for bulk of ‘09/10 season

Day skier lots out of play from February to March, some longer
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Parking at Creekside is going to get very challenging long before the 2010 Olympic Games begin.

This week, Doug Forseth, Whistler blackcomb's senior vice president of operations, gave Pique a run down of the village and Creekside parking lot schedule during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Creekside appears to be the hardest hit.

The surface lot of the parkade will be out of commission from January 4 until March 27 while the first level of the parkade will be out of use for the entire season. The first level will be a secured area where the wax cabins will be built for all the ski teams.

The remaining parkade levels will be handed over the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games (VANOC) at various times and nothing will be available from February 1 to March 21 as Creekside becomes a fully secured official venue for the Games.

That schedule is going to have a tremendous impact on the Creekside Market.

"It's going to be a huge loss for us," said owner Jerry Marsh, who has been building up his clientele for the past five years.

He said roughly 75 to 80 per cent of his customers rely on parking - they park their cars, go skiing, and then pop in for groceries at the end of their day.

"Parking is very much a part of our business," he said.

"If it was just the three weeks of Olympics that wouldn't be bad."

But losing a large part of the parking for January, February and March will be difficult, he said. "Those are our three busiest months."

Whistler Blackcomb (WB), which owns the Creekside parkade, understands full well the impact of losing parking, not only in Creekside but in the village too.

Forseth has been negotiating with VANOC these past years, stressing the message that parking is critical not only for WB but for most Whistler businesses

"We are working with VANOC to minimize the impact of the loss of parking," said Forseth this week.

It comes as no surprise that the day skier lots will be out of commission throughout the month of February 2010. Some lots will be out of commission longer than that.

This is the 2010 village parking lot schedule:

• Lots 1 and 2 will be turned over to VANOC for exclusive use February 1 to March 1.

• Lot 3 - half of the lot will be turned over to VANOC beginning January 15, and the remainder will be turned over February 1 to March 1.

• Lot 4 - 30 per cent will be turned over January 15, the remainder on February 1 to March 21.

• Lot 5 if for VANOC's exclusive use from February 1 to March 21

• Lot 6 (on Blackcomb) is for VANOC's exclusive use from February 4 to March 1, although some parking spots will be handed over earlier.

• Lots 7 and 8 are still under negotiation but they will definitely be out of play from February 4 to March 4.

"We recognize there's huge benefit for Whistler to maintain the idea of business as usual for along as we possibly can," said Maureen Douglas, VANOC's director of communications.

To make up for the lack of village parking, there will be enhanced bus service in the Resort Municipality of Whistler , with service jumping from 39 regular buses to 135.

That service will ramp up before the Games and will be in full operational mode during the month of February.

"It's aligned with the takeover of the day skier lots," said Douglas.

In addition, WB is working with its partners to find ways to minimize the impact.

"We are looking at solutions of where we can find more parking," said Forseth.

The company is in discussions with VANOC and the RMOW to maximize the more than 1,000 private parking spots under the village. Many of those spots are underutilized during the winter.

Forseth said many of those coming to the Games would not be in private automobiles, potentially freeing up parking spots under hotels.

"We want to make sure the spaces are well utilized," he said.

Though some of these steps may mitigate the impact of losing parking in the village, Marsh is still worried about the impact to his Creekside grocery store.

He has plans in place to change up his business for those three critical months. He intends to offer more 'grab and go' type food and focus on delivering groceries to homes and condos, rather than people making the bus trip to Creekside.

"We're trying to be positive about it but it is going to be a major impact on business," he said.

And while WB will be compensated for the loss of skier visits from VANOC, Creekside Market will not.

"We're looking at what avenues of compensation we can get," he said.

Subway's owner Bhupinder Hothi isn't sure what to expect with the loss of parking.

"It's hard to forecast how much business we're going to lose," he said, noting that he is now making a lot of subs for construction workers who drive to Creekside and park.

At the same time, that loss of business may pale in comparison to the business he may gain through walk-by traffic during the Games, and from workers setting up the venue and dismantling it.

"We're not looking at the high-end tourist," said Hothi.

The liquor store, however, is optimistic about the coming season.

Gord Hall, director of corporate policy for the Liquor Distribution Branch, said that much of the store's business is from locals who there. He said business might do very well with so many people staying around the Creekside area for the Games.

Hall said: "We expect sales to be higher at the store than they normally would be."