The first rush hour went surprisingly well.

But can it stay that way for the next two years?

Hundreds of OC Transpo buses flooded Nicholas Street Monday morning. The road, a  major connector between downtown and the Queensway, now has buses mixing with traffic on the southbound side. The northbound side is down to one lane for traffic and a dedicated bus lane.

Other major bus routes, like the #95 and #98, have been re-routed through the University of Ottawa campus to Laurier, King Edward, and Lees Avenue.

The changes, which actually kicked in on Sunday, are due to the closure of the adjacent transitway, including Campus Station. The scheduled closure is part of on-going LRT construction due to be completed in 2018.

The Monday morning commute was seen as the first real test of the new traffic reality. Motorists were warned in advance to avoid Nicholas if at all possible.

It apparently worked.

“It went well,” says one driver, stopped at Nicholas and Laurier. “We were expecting a lot of traffic but everything is good.”

“I think they did a good job warning people that there’s going to be a very tight situation on Nicholas,” said another driver. “So I think people are avoiding it.”

The changes also affect transit users, particularly University of Ottawa students currently wrapping up their final exams. Most can expect their trips to take a few minutes longer, and some now have farther to walk to get to their class. “It’s about 10 minutes, or maybe more, walking,” said one Engineering student.

While Monday morning went relatively smoothly, there are still plenty of concerns. Area councillor, Mathieu Fleury, worries about pedestrian safety in and around the campus. “We're continuing to analyze it. We're going to continue to monitor it,” he says. “As you can see we have OC Transpo employees. We have our traffic staff. We have cameras so we can see what's going on in real time.”

The Chair of the Transit Commission, Stephen Blais, says motorists should still find alternate routes to Nicholas Street whenever possible. “You know, traffic is a lot like water. It'll find the path of least resistance,” says Blais. “And as long as we're all making that effort I think the system will continue to work well until we open the train.”