A bus breaks down and causes another traffic jam

It was a <@Ri>Société de transport de Montréal (STM)<2$p> bus that broke down at the rotary circle at the island’s entrance, thus causing the jam. The incident happened shortly after 5p.m. and the vehicle remained in place for almost four hours...

The heavy vehicle blocked two lanes of the circle so drivers met with great difficulty trying to bypass the traffic by using the sole available lane. It took only a few minutes for the congestion to build up, quickly reaching the northeast area which only served to completely block Bonaventure highway. Drivers who arrived at the island from Highway 15 south or the Champlain Bridge also had to grapple with the same difficulties because the rotary circle is presently the only entry lane to L'Île des-Sœurs.

For some reason which was not yet determined at the time of this report, the bus lost its brakes which automatically got “frozen” so that it was difficult to move it to another area or to push it. The driver reportedly called the STM control officer who in turn dispatched a technician to repair the vehicle. When the technician arrived, he realised he could not solve the problem and instead requested that a tow truck be sent. The tow truck arrived at the scene at 9p.m. and, ten minutes later, the vehicle was moved.

To make matters worse, Wednesday, October 31 was Halloween night and several police officers of station 16 were sent out to different sections of the island to monitor the safety of children walking in the streets. When they questioned the bus driver what was happening, the driver said that the tow truck was on its way so the officers did not really want to bring in another tow truck or to change the direction of the rotary circle. It seemed that nobody in the STM saw fit to adequately inform the police officers. The driver was waiting, the tow truck driver was waiting (who was also caught in the jam) and motorists were losing their tempers.

In a separate article Le Magazine will report on the measures taken by the borough, as a result of this second major congestion which occurred in less than two days.