Photo of conditions in Cramahe Township evening of December 23, 2022 by Mark Richardson Globe and Mail
When the 10:30 am Canada Coach by Megabus arrived on time in Kingston, Ontario, at 1:30 pm on December 23rd, little did the passengers know it was the last time that bus would be on time for the next 30 plus hours.
At around 4:00 pm at 401 intersection 509 (The Big Apple) the OPP closed the 401 and directed all travel onto the south side road parallel to the 401. With the hills covered in ice and trucks unable to navigate them, over the next two hours the bus made its way to Brighton and highway 2.
Proceeding west towards Colborne, more correctly the Township of Cramahe, population 6,500, they took 6 hours to cover the 17 km distance. By that time it was nearing midnight and the OPP pulled 5 buses off the road, the drivers were over their allotted hours and took them to the Keeler Centre, Colborne's hockey area.
The second story however, is the Home of the Rotary Club of Colborne and the space is known as Rotary Hall. Over 200 hungry, tired and desperately in need of a clearn wash room group of travellers set foot into the bright clearn but bare space of Rotary Hall, a space that they would occupy until after 4:00 pm the next day.
According to Mayor Mandy Martin, those numbers would swell all night and all day until they reached a maximum of 520 many of them children.
My contact commented more than once about how the local mayor, and police and fire chiefs were present during the full day. Citizen's rallied, supplied what food they could scrounge up and tried to make everyone as comfortable as possible even though there were not enough chairs and many had to resort to the hard somewhat cold floor for comfort.
By 4 pm on December 24th, four new bus drivers had arrived and the passengers from the five stranded buses were merged and against the advice of the OPP set off for Toronto. They arrived safely around 7 pm.