US Border Crossing to the Vancouver Olympics
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Peace Arch border crossing ready for Olympics
BLAINE, Wash. -- Federal officials don't think the influx of traffic crossing
the border for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in February will be that bad,
but they still plan to have up to 10 inspection booths open at the
Peace Arch Border
crossing.
"My promise is those booths will be manned so we can get vehicles through," said
Michelle James, director of field operations for the local Customs and Border
Protection office.
Meanwhile, a projection of traffic volume during the games shows there might not
be many additional vehicles on Interstate 5. A revised estimate by the Whatcom
Council of Governments, a transportation planning agency, shows the Olympics
could result in an additional 2,000 vehicles a day going both directions on I-5.
A majority of those would be "fun seekers," not ticket-holding event spectators,
the analysis showed.
That's not a lot, considering I-5 sees as many as 45,000 vehicles a day between
Ferndale and Bellingham, and about 26,000 vehicles a day between Ferndale and
Blaine, according to the state Department of Transportation. |
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The quietest month for border crossings is February; the busiest is August. The
Olympics could result in traffic equivalent to a busy August day, officials
said.
"That's the projection we've been given, again and again," James said.
The new border station at Peace Arch won't be completed until late December
2010, but it will have 10 primary-inspection booths, instead of the eight at the
current facility, which is more than three decades old.
Federal officials said they'll have 10 booths open during the Olympics. They're
doing that by converting the two lanes on the inside, nearest the station, as
through-lanes.
Drivers can take those lanes past the existing inspection stations and be
inspected at four new primary inspection stations, which will be where the
secondary inspections are now.
If border agents want to conduct a follow-up, secondary inspection and
scrutinize somebody more closely, that person will drive through to stations
that are nearly complete as part of the new facility.
Two new permanent booths have already been added to the Lynden border crossing,
and one has been added to the Sumas crossing.
"We're as ready as we can be," said Robin Graf, acting regional administrator
for the General Services Administration, the federal agency building the $107
million border station.
Customs and Border Protection will have enough agents to staff all booths at all
four Whatcom County crossings.
While projections don't show additional traffic that's out of this world, there
are other reasons officials think the traffic will be manageable: It's happening
in February, the slowest month, and the schedule of Olympic events means
travelers will be crossing the border at off-peak times, and will cross back
into the U.S. later in the day than is normally the case.
"Hopefully it's going to be staggered," said Tom Schreiber, Customs and Border
Protection spokesman. "The 10 booths is the most that we've ever had at this
crossing."
For crossing northbound, the new Canadian border station at Douglas (Peace Arch)
has 10 inspection booths, and the Pacific Highway crossing (the Blaine truck
crossing) has six on both sides of the border.FROM THE THE BELLINGHAM HERALD |
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