Border mayors want feds to resolve delays
Niagara’s three border mayors plan to write a letter this week calling on the federal government to address the traffic backups that have been a frequent problem at bridges into Canada this summer.
“We’re all feeling the pain. It’s very frustrating,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, adding counterpart mayors in the U.S. are equally frustrated.
Diodati said he has heard from people that it has taken them more than an hour to come back to Canada on Niagara’s brides. He said even at the Whirlpool Bridge, which is a Nexus-only crossing, it took motorists a half-hour to come into Canada Saturday.
“This is having an impact on cross-border trade and tourism and it needs to be addressed right away,” he said. “We have seen the pendulum swing on this side of the border — the dollar is encouraging Americans to come back and gas prices are relatively inexpensive.”
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Diodati said Canada Border Services Agency does not have appropriate staffing levels at the bridges, and that he, along with Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop and Niagara-onthe-Lake Lord Mayor Pat Darte, will send a letter to the federal minister responsible for CBSA, as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, outlining their concerns.
“Every minute people are sitting on the bridge is an extra minute they that they’re not spending money in Canada, in Ontario, in Niagara Falls,” said Diodati, adding it also leads to a negative experience.
In a recent interview with Postmedia, the general managers of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority said too few inspection booths are open during peak periods, leading to long delays at the Rainbow, Peace and Queenston-Lewiston bridges.
Lew Holloway, general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, said traffic is down about 25 per cent during the last two years at its bridges — down 14 per cent last year and another 10 or 11 per cent this year.
The decrease comes from more Canadians not travelling as much to the United States, which has trumped the increase of Americans coming to Canada with the exchange rate working to their benefit.
Also in a recent interview with Postmedia, CBSA spokeswoman Nancy Thomson said from March 28 to July 10, the Peace Bridge travellers stream met the established service standards 86.1 per cent of the time, the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge 91.6 per cent of the time and the Rainbow Bridge 92.3 per cent of the time.
The established service standards are 10 minutes from Monday to Thursday and 20 minutes from Friday to Sunday and holidays.
“The CBSA works with local stakeholders to monitor traffic patterns during high-volume periods,” she said.
“Delays are sometimes unavoidable when traffic surges are encountered, enforcement actions occur, and higher-than-normal traffic volumes come into play.”
Thomson said there may be a variety of factors that contribute to how many lanes are open at any given time.
“Despite our best efforts to keep traffic delays to a minimum, delays may occur due to variables that are out of our control,” she said.
“The CBSA recognizes the importance of border wait times to the Canadian trade and tourism interests. We make every effort to forecast traffic patterns and volumes, and adjust staffing levels during peak travel periods to minimize processing times and unnecessary delays at our border crossings.”
Diodati said CBSA’s established service standards are misleading, and don’t tell the entire story.
“Their numbers are skewed. They factor in between midnight and 6 a.m. when no one is on the bridge.”
Niagara Falls Tourism chairman Wayne Thomson said it took him 31 minutes to cross back into Canada at the Whirlpool Bridge Saturday evening. He said one booth was open.
“I have a picture of the beautiful view of the rapids and a picture of the one booth open,” he said.
He said the situation is unfortunate because Niagara Falls Tourism has increased its marketing in the United States to attract more visitors.
“It’s the first time in many years that we’ve concentrated on key cities in the near border states from a tourism marketing perspective, and we believe that’s working significantly well,” he said.
“We’d like to think that maybe our efforts have stimulated that kind of activity, but at the same time something has to change to make that border flow more quickly.”