CBS deputy mayor says traffic jam is proof of show’s success

By Mark Squibb / June 29, 2023

For almost an hour this past Saturday, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds soared and swooped over Conception Bay to the delight of thousands of folks who packed the parking lots, sports fields, and side streets of Conception Bay South to watch the show.

But the drive home, for many, lasted longer than the actual show.

Wave after wave of vehicles flooded the main road following the show, bringing traffic to a complete standstill from Kelligrews to Foxtrap and both sides beyond.

Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse admitted it took her an hour to get from St. Edward’s Field to her home in Foxtrap, but said the traffic was proof of the show’s success.

“Council, very early on, wanted to do this as one of our key events for our 50th anniversary,” said Gosse. “The last time the Canadian Forces Snowbirds were here was in 2016, and so we knew it would be a huge success. And by all accounts, the congestion that we experienced shows that it was an overwhelming success, and that people came out. And it wasn’t just our own community, people came from all over the Avalon. So, it certainly was a huge success.”

Gosse said the Town, the Snowbirds, Coast Guard, RNC and RCMP, Cougar Helicopters, search and rescue teams, and more all came together to pull off the event.

“We’re extremely proud of this event, and how it went,” said Gosse. “There was a lot of work, and extensive planning that went into this event.”

Gosse added that planning for it was challenging because the Town had no way of knowing how many people would attend. The fact that Saturday was one of the few nice days people have had in the last month also drew larger crowds, said Gosse, than if it had been rainy.

“I don’t think we could anticipate what our traffic would be because we couldn’t anticipate the numbers,” she said. “But we certainly planned for it. We had systems for getting traffic moving. We did have traffic congestion and some of our buses took a little longer. But we had staff out, escorting and shifting some of the routes and moving these buses along. But this was well advertised, and so I think people were expecting that we would see additional traffic and there could be slowdowns.”

Gosse said traffic enforcers along the main highway were tasked with keeping a balance between moving traffic along the main road and letting new traffic flow onto the main road from side streets.

“It just made for a slower journey through town, which is to be expected when you put together a world class event like the Canadian Forces Snowbirds,” said Gosse. “We looked at our main traffic route and made a best-estimate plan for continued traffic flow. We had a constant flow. It was just slow.”

Motorists who were stuck stock still for an hour in both lanes between Longshore Road and Golden Road in Kelligrews would disagree. For over 45 minutes, traffic didn’t move as much as a foot. At one point, an ambulance was blocked heading west and some drivers had to make awkward manoeuvres to get their vehicles out of the way. The jam was so prolonged there were worries that some vehicles would run out of gas. Anyone who was waiting to get home to use a bathroom was also hard pressed.

Gosse admitted several councillors have heard from residents who were not pleased with the congestion.

 “Are there things we can learn from this? Absolutely,” said Gosse. “We will look at this event and see what we could do to improve traffic flow for future events. But for the most part we see this event as a huge success for the community.”

Gosse said residents have been understanding of the situation.

“You’re going to have slow down, you’re going to have some congestion, but what I have come to realize is that for the most part, people have understood that,” said the deputy mayor. “You come to expect there to be slowdowns.”

Gosse said council and town staff are aware that at least one ambulance had to make it’s way through the congestion and that a meeting over how to better facilitate emergency vehicles during traffic interruptions has already taken place, and more meetings will happen.

“My understanding is that vehicles moved off to the side of the road, and the ambulance was able to get through, probably not as quickly as it usually would have,” said Gosse.

But it wasn’t just within CBS that traffic was congested.

Some 200 cars lined both sides of the Peacekeepers Highway as folks parked bumper-to-bumper along the stretch of highway between the Foxtrap and Legion Road access roads, reducing traffic to a crawl before the show even commenced.

The Town’s advertising for the show had asked folks not to park on the highway, and light up signs along the highway told drivers not to park on the shoulders.

“It certainly impeded traffic,” said Gosse. “We also had RNC going through there early trying to move the traffic off, but people do what they do… which is really unfortunate because it inconveniences everybody else.”

Whether the Town can enforce a no-parking rule along the highway, which is owned by the Province, is a topic the Town is looking into, Gosse said.

This past January, councillor Joshua Barrett tore a strip off folks who decided that parking along the Peacekeepers Highway in the black of night to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks display was a good idea.

At the time, Barrett said he was shocked to see almost 30 cars parked bumper-to-bumper along the stretch of highway.