Southbound border traffic snarled; CCRA posting status reports every four hours

OTTAWA (Sept. 13, 2001) — Commercial truck traffic at Canada’s largest international land crossings is being delayed for hours as customs and immigration officers step up inspections following terrorist attacks in the United States.

Southbound traffic at North America’s busiest commercial border crossing, the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., was reported so extreme that the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency would not provide estimated waiting times. Shortly after midnight today, trucks were backed up 25 km on both lanes of Hwy. 401. The wait for clearance by U.S. customs and immigration officials was eight to 12 hours.

The Ontario Provincial Police warned truck operators not to use crossings in the Niagara region. Bridges to the United States are open, but flows are severely restricted. At Fort Erie, Ont., OPP was diverting trucks to a nearby racetrack and was releasing 20 at a time.

The Pacific Highway commercial crossing south of Vancouver has been clearing general automobile traffic as well after U.S. Customs closed non-commercial lanes yesterday afternoon. At 6 a.m. EDT — 3 a.m. local time — there was a four-hour wait to cross into the United States.

However, there and elsewhere northbound traffic was flowing with little delay. The CCRA has been posting estimated crossing times at its web site. The information is updated every four hours.