This major winter storm is disrupting travel across Ottawa, with school bus and OC Transpo route cancellations, flight delays and cancellations and parking bans. IN PICTURES: Winter storm hits Ottawa As of 4 p.m., 32 cm of snow has been reported at the Ottawa Airport and there was 37 cm of snow at the Gatineau Airport. Environment Canada’s total for Pembroke was 19 cm, based on the change in how deep the snow on ground was. CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at what you need to know about the storm. O-Train Line 1 The blowing snow has caused issues on O-Train Line 1, Line 2 and Line 4 on Thursday. Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar says operations on O-Train Line 1 have been impacted by snow accumulation and blowing snow, particularly between Tremblay and Hurdman stations. The O-Train Line 1 was only running on the westbound platforms at uOttawa, Lees, Hurdman, and Tremblay stations due to the snow for several hours. Full service on both platforms resumed just before 5:30 p.m. “Challenges have been frequent since the start of service with switches and keeping track infrastructure clear,” Amilcar told the Transit Committee. “We can expect that there will be continuous challenges to service throughout the day, however, crews are immobilized across the entire O-Train system and are addressing those issues as soon as they arise.” Transit riders expressed frustrations with the delays on Line 1 during the morning commute, with some people saying they waited approximately 30 minutes for a train. There were some delays on Line 2 and Line 4 due to the snow around 8 a.m. “Crews have worked all night to continually remove snow from the track for the safety of our customers and employees due to the strong winds and blowing snow,” Amilcar said. Service on Line 4 was temporarily suspended at around 1 p.m., with OC Transpo saying bus route 97 would serve customers between South Keys and the Airport. Service resumed just before 2 p.m. Commuters are being told to expect delays on the O-Train. OC Transpo OC Transpo is reducing bus service and pulling most articulated buses off the road due to the storm. The transit service has implemented a Severe Storm Schedule, with buses following a reduced schedule today. “Most routes in the network will be affected by these schedule adjustments. Many routes will have reduced frequencies and modified trip times, and select routes will not run,” OC Transpo says. Amilcar told the Transit Commission OC Transpo is seeing “good results” with the changes to bus service during the storm. “Most bus routes in the network are affected by this schedule adjustments. Many routes have reduced frequencies and modified trip times and select routes are not running.” Parking ban The City of Ottawa has issued daytime parking bans for Thursday and Friday due to the storm. A parking ban will be in effect between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. today, and then from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. During a winter weather parking ban, only vehicles with a residential parking permit are allowed to park on city streets. Snowplowing operations The City of Ottawa is warning it will take “longer than normal” to clean up the snow. A “Significant Weather Event” has been declared by the city. “We’re going to have to be looking at multiple plowing operations on residential streets throughout today and tomorrow as well as just the overall cleanup of corners, bus stops, crosswalks – because of the volume of the snow and the length and how fast it’s coming, it will take longer,” Bryden Denyes, area manager of roads, told CTV Morning Live. Denyes says crews are focusing on the priority road network and priority sidewalks. The city has said roads and sidewalks are cleared based on their “usage volume and priority level,” starting with major roads and arterials, Highway 174 and the Transitway. School bus cancellations All school buses are cancelled in Ottawa today. The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) says school buses are cancelled for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Ottawa Catholic School Board, the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario. The Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario says all of its schools are closed today due to the storm. OC Transpo 600-series school routes and any school trips on regular routes will not run Thursday, the OSTA said. The Upper Canada District School Board and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario have closed all schools today. All schools in the Renfrew County District School Board and Renfrew County Catholic District School Board are closed today due to the storm. “This decision was made in the interest of student and staff safety as hazardous conditions continue across the region,” the Renfrew County District School Board said in a statement. Power outages Hydro Ottawa is warning customers to be prepared in case of extended power outages. “Please ensure that electronics, such as cell phones and laptops, are fully charged before the storm begins,” a note on its website says. “Hydro Ottawa is monitoring the weather, and has crews on stand-by, ready to respond.” At 11:19 a.m., Hydro Ottawa said it was aware of an outage affecting more than 6,000 customers in Orléans. The Outage Map shows an area around the intersection of Brian Coburn Boulevard and Navan Road is experiencing an outage. The cause has not been determined. Power was restored to most customers by 2 p.m. Ottawa Airport Travellers are being urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport today. Twenty-four fights have been cancelled out of Ottawa today to several destinations, including Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Calgary and Fort Lauderdale, Florida due to the storm. Officials at the Ottawa Airport say some flights are still arriving and departing. “As always, we recommend if anybody is scheduled to travel, they check with their airline first. Our website, YOW.ca, is a good backup as well,” Krista Kealey, Ottawa International Airport spokesperson, told CTV Morning Live. “If your flight is going, it’s really important to give yourself extra time to get to the airport.” Air Canada is warning passengers that the storm may affect departing and arriving flights through Ontario and Quebec. City of Ottawa programs and services The City of Ottawa says all recreation and culture programs and services are cancelled on Thursday until 4 p.m. The city says it is not anticipating an impact to residential waste collection due to the storm. A public meeting on the Greenbank Road realignment scheduled for tonight at St. Joseph’s High School will be rescheduled to a future date. Ottawa Public Library branches will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday. All bookmobile stops are cancelled today. Museums The Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum will open at 12 p.m. Thursday due to the storm. Algonquin College Algonquin College says classes are cancelled Thursday at the Ottawa, Pembroke and Perth campuses. “Due to worsening conditions and for the safety of learners and employees, all on campus classes at Algonquin College Ottawa, Pembroke and Perth campuses are cancelled on Thursday, February 13,” Algonquin College said. “Classes will resume on Friday, February 14.” Online and remote courses will continue as scheduled. St. Lawrence College St. Lawrence College has cancelled all classes and on-campus activities at the Kingston, Brockville and Cornwall campuses on Thursday due to the snow. “All on-campus classes, labs, exams, and activities (including athletics/gym, clubs, meetings) scheduled to take place today are cancelled,” the college said. All on-campus evening classes and activities are also cancelled.
