Quote:
Originally Posted by J.OT13
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Those were some of the weirdest fireworks I've ever seen. You've got them firing off from an island in the river, and tons and tons of low-rise fun (not visible, and I saw a video from a friend on the flats, there was a long bookend-style wall set up in the way of watching the low fireworks as well). THEN it lasts all of NINE minutes, and no finale, just kind of *boop* and it's over.
Granted I arrived late at about 7pm, but alighted from Pimisi, into a writhing mass of people. The Booth bridge had SIX rows of fencing, keeping arrivals to the sidewalk only, where people had previously given up and stopped to watch the concert from above, causing pedestrian chaos.
At the corner of Wellington and Booth, the intersection was completely cordoned with fencing and confused people just gawking at the cops. The 2x600ppl/3min crowds were being directed away from the show (towards parliament) for an entire block, in order to enter a pre-queue queue. Wellington was linearly divided by FOUR rows of fencing for 500m or so, and Claridge was surrounded like a fortress, so there was no escape other than walk back to Pimisi Station in the wrong direction or walk forwards to save your life.
Having no possibility of exiting this crowd, and feeling very unsafe surrounded by tall construction fencing for hundreds of metres in all directions with no way to escape, the odd cop but no other security scans (lets be honest, this is where an attack would take place), no indication of how long it would take to get into the concert grounds, and little hope of exiting once I was corralled into the tighter crowd at the queue queue, I left, and continued walking up Wellington. Hundreds had simply given up and were just sitting on the bare ground, sweating, lining the fencing in all directions. You could kind of hear the show, but it was shoulder-to-shoulder milling about, and trying not to step on the people who had given up.
WELL, I then decided to walk to Bayview for a fireworks show at least. By skirting around the back of Garden of the Provinces and Territories (having finally seen the Communist Monument, which is nicely landscaped). I went behind the Claridge Condos with the intention of walking along the bike path corridor and watching the fireworks from Bayview.
Immediately after the Fleet bridge, I was immersed in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds huddled in a DOUBLE FENCED corral extending from Fleet Street to Pimisi to Bayview Station with only escape route at Pimisi partially blocked by security. There were gates to access Claridge, in the pitch dark behind the buildings, manned by commissionaires who were being peppered with confused questions and demands of the lost and damned in the darkness (God help them). Most people were running east, in the hopes of getting around back of Claridge onto Wellington, not realizing Claridge was a fortress and the only option was to go all the way up to the Library of Parliament to get back onto Wellington.
Walking from Pimisi to Bayview, there were several *extremely* bright, gas powered spotlights casting a blinding direct beam up and down the bike path, emitting loud noise, and gas fumes onto the crowds. I estimate about 5k people in a bike path corral in this area. Bayview late-arrivals (again at 600pplx3min) running towards Pimisi, because they couldn't get off at Pimisi because it closed last-minute, and the in-the-know people running to Bayview to watch the fireworks. People were hitting eachother in the blinding light, things were dropped on the ground after impacts, shuffling, hot, frustrated, lost people in a liminal space filled with desperation. I could literally see nothing in the blinding spotlight, except the back of the head of the guy in front of me. Kids were crying, exhausted, parents were desperate. It was very very terrible. I knew it would be like that, I've watched the fireworks from Bayview before. But if I were a tourist trapped there, I'd never come back to Ottawa. I thought someone would have devised a way to make it better by now.
Anyways, after 1/2 hour I made it to Bayview, where there was another blinding spotlight (is this to stop people from watching the fireworks, I mused?) and stood on the embankment with the rest of the people in the know. Lo-and-behold the fireworks lasted for 9 minutes and ended with no finale (I go to fireworks for the finale.. very disappointed).
Thankfully, I was already at Bayview, and cudos to OC Transpo for taking everything in stride. Tons of security and people directing at each station heading back east (even though Parliament onwards were ghost towns).
The 'accessible only' station at Pimisi seemed to work at the moment, but I still question why we can't handle crowds like Montreal can.
My proposal:
1. The Lebreton site is obviously not appropriate for what the NCC/Heritage has in mind, as far as fencing and scale designed by their Consultants and refined by committees. How does Bluesfest manage to do it, but the government creates a wild quagmire.
2. Backfill and put grass on the goddam wasteland on the south side of Wellington at Lebreton Flats. Expand the site for gods' sakes. What are we waiting for, parliament to be finished? There's opportunity for direct access at the lower level of Pimisi, and 2nd or even 3rd entry points.
3. Create official fireworks viewing zones in the area surrounding Pimisi, Bayview, and the parkway west of Bayview/Onigam. Or just cut the grass on the south side of the tracks, smooth out the lumps of discarded backfill, and make viewing zones. Why is this whole area still just a sh*thole if we're running Canada Day there. If you add all the people in the goddam bus parking lot at Bayview, along the liminal bike path, standing in the long grass along the tracks, you're probably at a good 15K people. They aren't on the concert grounds so they deserve their fate?
4. Actually show people where they're going, instead of corralling them into awful bike path mazes when they exit OC Transpo. I know they 'recommend' exiting at Lyon, but there are THREE stations. Don't ignore the other two.
As for the rest, Wellington was nice, with the viewing zone at Supreme Court and actual food trucks lining the street. It was still kinda dead though. How about buskers, small indie bands, or fun displays by the military or social groups? Walking from the Supreme Court to Wellington/Booth didn't have anything at all except for a first aid station.
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