First, on Feb 14th, there was a suspicious package found in the mail room of Public Safety Canada, which is a block away from my work. The next day, a suspicious package was found in the Centre Block area of Parliament Hill. Both were found to be non-hazardous.
That brings us today. It took me an hour and 40 minutes to get home from work. It should only take 30 minutes tops. Why? Not because of the snow (which didn't help) but because there was a bomb threat in an arena near the O-Train and Transit Way: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/02/19/ottawa-bomb-squad-called-suspicious-package.html
While I do appreciate the fact that the emergency response crews moved quickly and did what they had to do to ensure public safety, this is the 2nd time in the last year that traffic got all snarled up due to that particular section of the transit way being closed. This should raise a major red flag to OC Transpo and city officials that maybe, just maybe, more access roads and better emergency plans should be put in place for our transit system. There are very limited access points to the transit way, which means that when it has to be closed, the buses have to detour quite far before they can get back onto it. Since the detours are onto roads which are already experiencing high traffic volumes due to commuters, the problem compounds itself and the entire bus system gets fucked up as a result. Except for route 86. It seemed perfectly fine.
I got to my bus stop a little after 5pm. After waiting for nearly 45 minutes, I gave up and grabbed the next bus that was going my way. This bus then took 55 minutes to get me home. Mostly because it takes a very scenic route. Thankfully, I had my book with me so I read on my way home. I had to stop at the grocery store so by the time everything was said and done, I got home 2 hours and 15 minutes after I left work. That really sucked.
And adding to the commute home's misery, there's a hockey game in Ottawa tonight so there was even more people on the roads than normal. By the time I got home, the traffic on the main road near me was still bumper to bumper. Even on a game night, it's usually all cleared up by 6pm.
I really hope they catch whoever left the package at the arena and charge them with everything they can, just for the sheer misery that they caused everyone this evening. It's not funny and it's not cool. Emergency services have much better things to be doing with their time, like saving lives and stopping real crimes.
Sigh. One day they'll invent a cure for stupid.
Good Night!
Sarah
I got to my bus stop a little after 5pm. After waiting for nearly 45 minutes, I gave up and grabbed the next bus that was going my way. This bus then took 55 minutes to get me home. Mostly because it takes a very scenic route. Thankfully, I had my book with me so I read on my way home. I had to stop at the grocery store so by the time everything was said and done, I got home 2 hours and 15 minutes after I left work. That really sucked.
And adding to the commute home's misery, there's a hockey game in Ottawa tonight so there was even more people on the roads than normal. By the time I got home, the traffic on the main road near me was still bumper to bumper. Even on a game night, it's usually all cleared up by 6pm.
I really hope they catch whoever left the package at the arena and charge them with everything they can, just for the sheer misery that they caused everyone this evening. It's not funny and it's not cool. Emergency services have much better things to be doing with their time, like saving lives and stopping real crimes.
Sigh. One day they'll invent a cure for stupid.
Good Night!
Sarah
Ottawa's Transit Way
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