{"id":8517,"date":"2010-05-21T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/?p=8517"},"modified":"2010-05-21T10:44:32","modified_gmt":"2010-05-21T14:44:32","slug":"two-new-primary-inspection-lanes-added-to-the-lewiston-queenston-bridge-to-alleviate-congestion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/21\/two-new-primary-inspection-lanes-added-to-the-lewiston-queenston-bridge-to-alleviate-congestion\/","title":{"rendered":"TWO NEW PRIMARY INSPECTION LANES ADDED TO THE LEWISTON QUEENSTON BRIDGE TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is a press release I received from the <a href=\"http:\/\/niagarafallsbridges.com\/\">Niagara Falls Bridge Commission<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>Niagara  Falls Bridge Commission offers tips on how to avoid peak traffic delays when  crossing one of the three international bridges over the Niagara  River<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>LEWISTON<\/strong><strong>, NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 The Victoria and  Memorial Day weekends mark the beginning of the summer travel season which means  more travelers will be using the international bridges along the Niagara River. Motorists are encouraged to utilize the  various user friendly travel tools offered by the Niagara Falls Bridge  Commission (NFBC) and follow some basic travel planning steps before departing.<\/p>\n<p>This year, prior to the beginning of  the Victoria Day weekend, the NFBC and the Canada Border Service Agency  (Customs) are opening two new Primary Inspection Lanes on the Queenston Plaza leading into Canada.\u00a0 These two new lanes will  increase the bridge\u2019s processing capacity by 33%. An additional two lanes will  be added in early 2011 to further facilitate the efficient movement of traffic  across the Lewiston-Queenston international bridge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are continuing to make every  effort to address traffic delays at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and the addition of the two new  inspection lanes will certainly assist,\u201d said Dr. Kenneth Loucks, chair, NFBC.\u00a0  \u201cWe are in the final stages of the revitalization of the Queenston Plaza and, once completed in December, the  Canadian Border Service Agency will have new state-of-the-art facilities to  further reduce wait times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To assist with travel plans, the  NFBC provides information on traffic conditions at the Whirlpool,  Lewiston-Queenston and Rainbow Bridges which may be easily accessed as  follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Niagarafallsbridges.com<\/strong> provides hourly updates on traffic  conditions on the Lewiston-Queenston, Whirlpool and Rainbow Bridges, as well as real time photos of the traffic  conditions on the Lewiston-Queenston and Rainbow Bridges.<\/li>\n<li>Travelers can call  the NFBC\u2019s <strong>toll-free number<\/strong> that  provides hourly updates of traffic conditions on the three bridges.\u00a0 The number  to call is <strong>1-800-715-6722, press 2 for car  traffic info. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The NFBC offers  traffic updates through <strong>Twitter<\/strong>.  Followers of <strong>Twitter.com\/NiagaraBridges<\/strong> are notified of changing traffic  conditions. \u00a0This free service is designed to inform travelers of delay times  enabling them to select which NFBC bridge best fits their travel needs. \u00a0Since  there is a short driving distance between the Lewiston-Queenston and Rainbow  bridges, travelers can choose the bridge that offers the least delay time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a misconception that the  NFBC\u2019s bridges have long delays during the summer season. It is true that there  are generally extended delays during peak travel times such as on long holiday  weekends.\u00a0 However, delays can be minimized even on holiday weekends by  scheduling travel plans to avoid peak usage of the bridges.<\/p>\n<p>NEXUS card holders can avoid delays  using the Whirlpool Bridge. Since the Whirlpool Bridge is only accessible to NEXUS card  holders, travel times over the bridge average less than a minute. NEXUS  travelers using the Whirlpool Bridge currently receive a 15% discount on  tolls.\u00a0 For more information visit niagarafallsbridges.com and click on the  NEXUS link on the upper right hand corner.<\/p>\n<p>For travelers using US I-190,  electronic overhead message signs provide updates on traffic conditions at the  various bridges.\u00a0 Drivers can also tune into 1610 AM on their car radio, which  gives traffic conditions at the bridges.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. and Canada have different laws concerning  permitted items and exemption limits.\u00a0 For a complete list of what is allowed  into each county, travelers should visit either <a title=\"blocked::http:\/\/www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca\/\">www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca<\/a> (Canada)  or <a title=\"blocked::http:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/\">www.cbp.gov<\/a> (U.S). Each site provides a  comprehensive list of what is allowed in each country and what items need to be  declared at the customs booth.<\/p>\n<p>One of the following forms of  identification is required when crossing the border: a passport, passport card,  enhanced driving license, Trusted  Traveler Cards (NEXUS, SENTRI, or FAST), Enhanced Driver&#8217;s License, Enhanced  Tribal Card, U.S. Military Identification with Military Travel Orders, U.S.  Merchant Mariner Document when traveling in conjunction with official maritime  business, Native American Tribal Photo Identification Card or a Form I-872  American Indian Card.<\/p>\n<p>Using the available  tools and taking advantage of the benefits of the NEXUS program will provide  benefits to all travelers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">-30-<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>About the  Niagara Falls  Bridge  Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A Joint Resolution of the 1938 U.S.  Congressional Third Session created the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. The  Extra Provincial Corporations Act of the Province of Ontario, Canada licenses  the NFBC. Canada and the  U.S. are equally represented on the  NFBC by an eight-member Board of Commissioners.\u00a0 Initially established to  finance, construct and operate the Rainbow Bridge, the Commission proved sufficiently  efficient and effective to assume responsibilities for the Whirlpool Rapids  (Lower) and Lewiston-Queenston Bridges.\u00a0 The NFBC builds and maintains all  facilities for Customs and Immigration functions on both sides of the  international border. The NFBC is self supportive, largely through user fees  (tolls) and private-sector tenant leases. NFBC is federally chartered to conduct  international commercial financial transactions and issue federal (U.S.)  tax-exempt bonds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a press release I received from the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission: Niagara Falls Bridge Commission offers tips on how to avoid peak traffic delays when crossing one of the three international bridges over the Niagara River LEWISTON, NEW YORK \u2013 The Victoria and Memorial Day weekends mark the beginning of the summer travel&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[382,2,39],"tags":[3547,3550,3548,3551,3554,3553,2936,3552,3555,144,1497,3007,3549],"class_list":["post-8517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-niagara-falls-border","category-niagara-falls-news","category-niagara-falls-travel","tag-canada-border-service","tag-canada-border-service-agency","tag-canadian-border-service","tag-canadian-border-service-agency","tag-international-bridge","tag-international-bridges","tag-lewiston-new-york","tag-lewiston-queenston-bridge","tag-nfbc","tag-niagara-river","tag-queenston","tag-traffic-delays","tag-victoria-day-weekend"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accessniagara.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}