Thursday, I leave work on the Halifax waterfront at exactly 4:05pm. I walk in my front door at home in Eastern Passage, (normally a 30 minute trek), at exactly 6:12pm. Over two fucking hours to get home! (I WAS busing it home but, still…a little excessive, no?) As I sat on the bus going absolutely nowhere fast, I come to find out after overhearing a conversation between a fellow commuter and the bus driver, that the whole reason the downtown was a parking lot was because of a small car, Dartmouth bound, that had run out of gas on the MacDonald bridge…at 3:00pm!! Over an HOUR ago! The Bridge Police, instead of pushing this guy out of the way of the impending clusterfuck that is traffic at that hour, decide instead, to surround the car in traffic cones, (for safety??), effectively shutting down a lane on an already over-taxed bridge span, and essentially grinding the afternoon commute to a halt.
I’m not really upset with the driver of this car. Maybe his gas gauge was broken, who knows? I think most of us have run out of gas at one time. It happens. Fine. Whatever. What I don’t understand is that anytime there is a breakdown or a minor accident on this bridge, instead of making the free movement of traffic a priority, (after checking for injuries, of course), they instead proceed to do an accident reconstruction, exchange insurance info and take statements right there on the bridge. The effect is two-fold because not only are you blocking a lane, you now have the inevitable phenomenon of rubber-necking, as people slow down to get a good look at the pretty, flashing red and blue lights, gumming things up even more.
Bridge Commission, PLEASE, for the love of god, open the lanes FIRST and THEN worry about the legalities of it all AFTER the car(s) have been pushed out of the way. Have a tow truck or two on stand-by at rush hour, just in case, like you do at the MacKay Bridge.
Heaven help us all if there is ever an emergency evacuation of the city. We’d all be dead while you guys are busy drawing chalk marks on the pavement. —Coulda Walked Home Faster
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2012.
Ummm… Why wouldn’t you take the ferry to Dartmouth, then catch the bus?
So glad I live and work on the same side of the bridge now 🙂
Downtown to the Passage? That’s a Woodside Ferry trip. As for the issue at hand, I know a certain amount of due diligence is required for incidents, but for a simple matter of running out of gas, I agree, where was the pusher?
I blame the stunned cunt who ran out of gas.
I have to go with Tommy on this one. If the driver didn’t chance the trek across the bridge on an empty tank, you would have been home in 30 minutes. There is the slim possibility that his/her guage was broken but it was, most likely, someone in a big rush to get home and not wanting to take the time to stop for gas. Bet they wish they did now!
At least when we have flying cars,
they’ll either pay more attention…
or not bother us anymore.
Haha Zed! True that!!
ah o.p., the difference only minutes take. do you realize what could have in just 5 minutes. the world could fucking near end, and everything you knew, would be gone. but hey, look at the bright side, at least you made it home alive, count your blessings bud.
Why wouldn’t you take the ferry and connect in Dartmouth? I know that’s not the point of the bitch but still.
As for the idiot that ran out of gas, probably one of those cowboys that like to see if they squeeze another 40 km out of their tank after the gas light comes on.
When we have flying cars, we’ll have a bunch of idiots hitting buildings.