Canada-bound commercial vehicles have faced hours-long delays crossing the border this week, leading the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission to issue a warning to avoid the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge until further notice.
Both the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and Peace Bridge in Buffalo have experienced miles-long backups extending onto the I-190 since Tuesday. Canadian officials and the NFBC say the issue stemmed from a computer outage that the Canada Border Services Agency uses for cargo, which has been resolved.
“While CBSA has implemented a processing systems fix, the resulting delays continue,” a statement from the Bridge Commission reads, “and all adjacent staging areas within the Western New York region are at or beyond capacity.”
Wednesday evening saw the border crossing back up to the Niagara Power Project, state police closing a stretch of the I-190 and diverting traffic, and tractor-trailers parked on roads off of the highway and the Tops parking lot off of Military Road.
NITTEC has reported that the I-190 North has been closed at the Whitmer Road exit because of a traffic event since 9:17 a.m. on Tuesday. Military Road on Thursday afternoon had been closed from Saunders Settlement Road to Upper Mountain Road since 9:04 a.m. due to a traffic event.
Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Guillaume Berube said that primary inspection lanes are staffed with officers to process traffic and shipments, reportedly going through inspections with paper forms. They are still going through the backlog of requests received during the outage.
“Systems are being monitored for stability while traffic and shipping return to normal,” said Berube. “We thank commercial drivers for their cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience.”
Vehicles entering the United States were not impacted. Passenger and pedestrian travelers can continue to use the regional border crossings at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge, and the NEXUS-only Whirlpool Bridge as normal.