LEWISTON, N.Y. (WKBW) — Traffic disruptions and border backups continued for a third day at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge following Tuesday's computer outage at Canadian Border Services.
While Canadian Border Services said the outage has been resolved, traffic headaches persist at multiple border crossings, including the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, Peace Bridge and Blue Water Bridge; hundreds of miles west in Michigan.
The backups led to frustrations for truck drivers and commuters, with some commercial drivers stuck on the U.S. side of the border for days.
It was a game of patience for commercial truck drivers stuck in Lewiston near the U.S.-Canada border.
"Since Tuesday afternoon," said Jeanine Vanlierop, a commercial truck driver who has been stuck in Western New York.
For Vanlierop, who has been driving trucks for 15 years, this is unlike anything she has ever seen.
"I've never been delayed like this. Ever," Vanlierop said.
The backup left many drivers without pay, though Vanlierop says her company, Schneider National, is compensating her for the unwanted downtime.
WATCH: Commercial drivers heading to Canada face another day of traffic delays on Thursday at the Peace Bridge
"My company is. That's the good thing about them they'll pay us layovers. My coworker has been here since Tuesday also, but he's been here," Vanlierop said.
Vanlierop was headed to Etobicoke, Ontario, hauling a tanker with roughly 45,000 pounds of oat milk concentrate from New Jersey. Her biggest worry wasn't the wait— it was the product.
"I think it has a 5-day period before it can't be used by the customer that I was taking it to," Vanlierop said. "It's insulated, yes, very thick insulation on the tanker."
The hold-up has left drivers constantly refreshing their phones for updates, but Vanlierop says the information wasn't matching what was really happening at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.
"More accurate notification from the local authorities would be nice communication instead of just sitting here and monitoring the phone, which is giving us a bunch of misinformation because it says no delays but the highway is shut down, you can't get past Exit 24 on I-190 going northbound," Vanlierop said.
About 15 minutes after I arrived, a state trooper began clearing the parking lot where these trucks were stationed, allowing Vanlierop and other drivers to finally cross into Canada. Vanlierop remains hopeful her time-sensitive delivery will make it in time.
The state Department of Transportation has closed access from the 190 to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. Traffic has been diverted to the Summit Park Mall staging areas.
I reached out to two Niagara County legislators about this situation who sent me these statements:
Niagara County Emergency Services has been directly involved over the last several days with the truck backup issue. Our emergency services director has been coordinating with the State Department of Transportation and the State Police to work on strategy and logistics. The main issue from our point of view is making sure that as roads have been closed and truck traffic has been backed up, that there are dedicated lanes for ambulances, firetrucks and other emergency vehicles to serve our residents. We believe significant progress has been made over the last 24 hours and we are optimistic that things should be closer to normal by the weekend.
Becky Wydysh
Chairperson of the Legislature
Niagara County Legislator, 2nd District
I have been in communication with our federal, state, and local representatives regarding the recent closure of the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge to commercial traffic and its impact on the local area. The Canada Border Services Agency alleged yesterday, that their computer systems are operational but will need time to clear the backlog of commercial traffic. I thank our business owners and residents for their patience and for showing respect to truck drivers who have been forced to wait on private property and along our roads during this delay.
While the closure created real challenges, one silver lining is that hundreds of truck drivers who normally wouldn’t stop in Niagara County are now visiting our small businesses and experiencing our community, giving our local economy an unexpected boost.
Christopher McKimmie
Niagara County Legislator, 3rd District
