Confederation Bridge motor vehicle accident closure a rare event, says operator
CBC
In the 26 years since Confederation Bridge opened, linking P.E.I. and New Brunswick, there have only been a few closures due to accidents, but the closure Sunday afternoon came at a bad time.
"This one, you know, probably caught the attention of everyone because it was in a very high traffic situation," said Strait Crossing general manager Michel Le Chasseur.
"It's very rare that we would have an incident like that in high tourism season on a Sunday afternoon. For traffic, it was the perfect storm."
The accident, a head-on collision between a car and a pickup truck, happened at about 12:30 p.m. Two ambulances, two fire trucks, RCMP, tow trucks and bridge crews responded, and for them to do their work there was no choice but to close the bridge entirely, said Le Chasseur.
The bridge was closed for an hour and 10 minutes, he said.
Traffic was backed up almost five kilometres on both sides of the bridge, said Le Chasseur. After the bridge reopened, traffic took another hour to clear.
It was a frustrating situation for everyone, he said, but everything worked just as it should have.
While it was a long wait, and there was nowhere to go for many people, in particular those stuck on the bridge itself, everyone behaved well and made the best of the situation, said Le Chasseur.