Police bomb-disposal robot disposes of package
A suspicious package attached to a pole forced the closure of Riverside Drive and a section of Ottawa’s bus Transitway for several hours yesterday.
The suspicious package was reported to police shortly before noon and the Explosives Unit brought in a bomb disposal robot to investigate the box, which had been tied to a post.
A section of the Transitway running along Riverside Drive and Hurdman Station was closed. Since the package was located on an overpass that spanned Riverside Drive, police were forced to close that road to traffic as well.
The closures caused traffic snarls around Industrial Avenue and north on Riverside Drive.
Paramedics, firefighters, the bomb squad and the Hazardous Materials Unit investigated. The bomb disposal robot destroyed the package at around 2:35 p.m.
The package was not deemed hazardous.
Riverside Drive was re-opened to traffic and the buses returned to normal schedule on the Transitway soon afterwards.
