OC Transpo bus crashes into overhead sign at Bayshore Mall

An OC Transpo bus collided with an overhead sign at Bayshore Mall on Wednesday afternoon.

Ottawa police said they were called to the shopping centre around 3:50 p.m., responding to a reported city bus collision.

From images and videos obtained by CityNews, it appears the OC Transpo bus struck an overhead sign on the entrance ramp from southbound Bayshore Drive. Witness videos show the bus became stuck under the sign and the driver appeared to drive backwards and forwards in an attempt to free the bus.

It eventually stopped, but not after causing significant damage to the sign. It was not made clear how fast the bus was travelling at the time of initial impact.

“An out-of-service bus made an incorrect turn into the Bayshore Shopping Centre parking garage and made contact with an overhead sign,” Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, Public Information Officer for OC Transpo, said in a statement to CityNews.

The transit agency said that the bus was removed from the ramp around midnight on Wednesday. It is reviewing the incident and will conduct a “thorough safety investigation.”

There is a traffic sign located before the ramp saying “no overweight vehicles” with a height restriction of 6’8″ (roughly 2 metres).

There have been no reported injuries due to the collision. Ottawa paramedics tell CityNews they were not called to the scene.

It remains unclear why the bus was driving in an area clearly marked too low for the bus. OC Transpo has seven types of busses in its fleet, all of which are well over 2 metres tall.