The two buses that had been stuck on Route 172 since yesterday evening were able to resume their journey towards Sacré-Coeur around 2 p.m. on Sunday.
This was confirmed by the mayor of Sacré-Coeur, Lise Boulianne.
There were around forty passengers on board the two buses.
However, according to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility's Quebec 511 website, Route 172 remains closed.
One of the two drivers, Cédric Deschênes, was contacted by Radio-Canada this morning and confirmed that the situation was under control and that he was awaiting instructions from authorities before he could continue his journey. He and the 30 passengers on his bus were on their way to Sacré-Cœur after attending a show in Saguenay. They had been stuck since 1 a.m. Saturday night. The driver explained that the road was very dangerous due to the icy conditions.
“We started to skid, but I managed to keep control and we leaned on the snowbank on the side of the road,” Mr Deschênes said. We didn't take the ditch, nothing. […] It was too dangerous and I couldn't move from there anyway. It went forward more and not backwards.
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Route 172 is closed indefinitely due to severe weather.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Cédric Deschênes and his passengers were stuck at kilometer 75, while the other bus and the 14 people on board were stuck at kilometer 65.
Lack of mobile network
For her part, Lise Boulianne complains about the lack of a mobile phone network on Route 172, which has made the situation more difficult for certain passengers.
We know that the bus, which was at kilometer 65, had no means of communication.
“I would tell you, from kilometer 28 to kilometer, I would tell you, 70-75, there is no working cell reception,” the mayor said. So that's problematic.
Lise Boulianne believes that we should act quickly to prevent accidents from having serious consequences like last July, when three people died. There was an accident last summer, she said. A woman died because there was no cell service and it took too long for help to arrive.
With information from Jean-François Coulombe