While many British Columbians remain in doubt about the value of staging the Olympics, it's hard to find anybody in Squamish who doesn't think landing the Winter Games has made a dangerous highway safer.
 
Almost 60 kilometres of the twisty, coast-hugging Sea-to-Sky Highway have been widened to up to four lanes, with concrete barriers running down the middle to reduce the risk of head-on crashes.

Another 20 kilometres of improvements are planned for the 100-kilometre stretch between Horseshoe Bay and Whistler, where the Olympic skiing events will be held.
 
"In the new stretches of highway we have not seen any fatals," Cpl. Scott Bowden with the Squamish traffic unit said, "and we've seen a decrease in head-on collisions."
 
However, improvements to the road won't solve all of its problems, B.C. drivers say.

"People just go quicker" said Ed Louttit.

Guy Chiasson agreed: "Last trip, for example, one pick-up truck passed a vehicle in a long orderly line and he ended up in a ditch on the other side of the road."
 
The enormous $600-million project is expected to be completed in 18 months, according  to the project's website.