Bagotville show: congestion created by people arriving too early, says the SPS

The Bagotville International Air Show (SAIB) was a victim of its own success on Saturday: the roads leading to the site were completely congested from the start of the day. According to the Saguenay Police Service (SPS), the problem arose in the morning when too many vehicles arrived before the site opened at the Bagotville base.

Tens of thousands of people still attended the event which showcased the prowess of airplane pilots.

At 1:45 p.m., the City of Saguenay ended the shuttle service leading to the site. From 2 p.m., departure shuttles began to be offered.

In the middle of the morning, as three parking lots for the shuttles were full, the Saguenay Police Service (SPS) invited the population to show up on Sunday to use this service.

From the beginning of the afternoon, the City of Saguenay asked people who were not already in line not to venture onto the road and to come back and enjoy the full show on Sunday. At 3:15 p.m., the SPS mentioned by email that the site was closed.

Around 10:30 a.m., cars were bumper to bumper on Boulevard Saint-Jean-Baptiste from Boulevard de l’Université to Chemin de la Grande-Anse. At this point, the police asked people to turn back.

Highway 70 between Chicoutimi and La Baie was also completely congested in the east direction. Around 2 p.m., congestion persisted on the highway.

Up to five hours on the road

People took up to five hours to travel the distance between Chicoutimi and the Bagotville base. Others chose to leave after several hours of congestion.

kilometers on the 70. It’s incredible. It’s not the first time I’ve come here”,”text”:”It took five hours to do 20 kilometers on the 70. It’s incredible. It’s not the first time I’ve been here”}}”>It took five hours to do 20 kilometers on the 70. It’s incredible. It’s not the first time I’ve been herelamented a driver interviewed on the road.

We come from Estrie as well, then we were in Alma, precisely to get a little head start, then we are hereadded, disappointed, another motorist.

Too many people too soon, says SPS

According to explanations provided during the day by the SPS, the congestion would have been caused by the fact that people arrived very early near the site, several hours before opening. The site has never completely filled up.

p.m. and people began to accumulate at the gates of the site from 5h30, which created immense congestion before the site even opened. We opened site 45minutes earlier to try to compensate for that, but we never managed to get the upper hand on this congestion”,”text”:”What happened this morning, basically, is that the site was announced open at 8 a.m. and people started piling up at the gates of the site from 5:30 a.m., which created immense congestion before the site even opened. We opened the site 45 minutes earlier to try to alleviate this, but we never managed to get the better of this congestion”}}”>What happened this morning, basically, was that the site was announced open at 8 a.m. and people started to accumulate at the gates of the site from 5:30 a.m., which created a Huge congestion before the site even opens. We opened the site 45 minutes earlier to try to alleviate this, but we never managed to get the better of this congestion.mentioned the spokesperson for the SPSHervé Berghella.

It is recommended not to arrive too early on Sunday.

Shuttle parking lots fill up quickly

The City of Saguenay had invited people to use a shuttle service from the Société de transport du Saguenay (STS), but at 10:20 a.m., the parking lots of the Center Georges-Vézina, in Chicoutimi, and the Théâtre du Palais municipal, in La Baie, and Cégep de Jonquière were full.

At this time, it would be advisable to come tomorrow to avoid an indefinite wait.said the SPS by email.

The wait for some was more than three hours.

The people still waiting in line at the Georges-Vézina Center towards the end of the morning, however, were in a good mood, especially when planes were flying over Chicoutimi. A few people chose to leave and return on Sunday.

There is a lot of rain tomorrow. We suppose that the people who were supposed to come tomorrow Sunday decided to all come today Saturday because it’s a beautiful day, but there are too many people theresaid a man we met.

SAIB, so we hadn’t planned that, but it’s free for everyone, it’s made for everyone, so you have to expect to wait a little bit to have access to the site”,”text “:”I had never waited before to go to SAIB, so we hadn’t planned that, but it’s free for everyone, it’s made for everyone, so you have to expect wait a little bit to access the site”}}”>I had never waited before to go to SAIBso we hadn’t planned that, but it’s free for everyone, it’s made for everyone, so you have to expect to wait a little bit to access the siteadded a woman.

Apparently this is the last event in the region, so we’ll be patient, even if we have children. We want to experience it, so we’ll waitconcluded another.

Additional shuttles could be added on Sunday.

The saturated cellular network

Cell phone use was difficult on site, as well as on congested roads.

In addition, given the large number of spectators, the demand for use of the cellular network may exceed the capacity of the latter. Please reduce your use of cellular devices so as not to interfere with emergency calls.it was specified in the afternoon on the Facebook page of the SAIB.

The first aerial performance began around 10 a.m. Access to the Bagotville International Air Show is also free.

For the moment, rain is forecast for Sunday from midday.

The 2024 edition could be the last in this form for the SAIB, due to the upcoming arrival of F-35 aircraft to replace the F-18.

Striking employees absent

Furthermore, civilian employees of the Bagotville base, who have been on strike for five months, did not demonstrate on Saturday. National Defense filed a request for a provisional injunction on Friday to prevent them from disrupting the show.

So we will change strategy in the coming days [et dans] the next few weeks to face an employer that we consider difficult. On occasion I would even use the term “disrespectful to own employees”commented Yvon Barrière, regional vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

With information from Béatrice Rooney, Myriam Gauthier and Émile Lapointe