Border trouble: line-ups for the U.S. ease off

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SURREY (NEWS1130) – Bring a book if you’re heading to the United States today. At one point, border line ups at the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings were up to three hours long. Things have eased off, and the lines aren’t quite as long. The Aldergrove and Abbotsford-Huntingdon crossings have not been as bad, but they are still no picnic.

US Customs was pretty certain this extra traffic was coming, with Canada Day Thursday and Independence Day in the States Sunday. Chief Tom Schrieber says they are doing the best they can to get traffic through. “We opened up all our lanes at five o’clock this morning so that we could try to get a little running start at the line of traffic that would be coming down at us, but our facilities just get overwhelmed. We have all the traffic lanes open that we can and we are even shoving some cars through our truck facility.”

Schrieber says having your passport ready and co-operating with the border guards can help get the lines moving as quickly as possible. He says it’s best to keep your jokes to yourself. “Like anybody else, when you get a little over-worked, a little tired, you know, sometimes that humour doesn’t quite work.”

Schrieber says travel off peak times if you’re crossing the border this weekend to avoid wasting hours in line.

Listen to News1130 every ten minutes on the ones for the latest border information.

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