Crossing the US land border on November 8, 2021

[MrsK]

Does anybody have any plans to make a run for the border the same day that it opens allowing Canadians to travel to the United Stated by land?

 

Does anybody want to share  any  opinions on how they think the first day is going to go?  Smoothly? A big mess?  Something else?

 

We are considering doing a crossing in the early morning hours of November 8 in the Niagara Falls, Ontario area heading south, so was trying to weigh the pros and cons.

 

Thanks for any input.

[Fouremco]

Given the requirement for a PCR test to return, I doubt you'll see a horde of cross-border shoppers descending on the crossing points. There may be a number of snowbirds who, like you, have been waiting for their opportunity to head south, but some will decide to give it a few days to work out the wrinkles. Depending on how early you try to cross and which crossing you choose, you could be alright, particularly if you can hit the NEXUS lane. But if 9:00 AM is early for you, the crossing is a particularly busy one and you don't have NEXUS, I'd wait for a few days.

[lots-of-km2]

I'm keen to know how efficiently crossing will work on the Lower Bridge (aka Whirlpool Rapids Bridge), which is Nexus only. 

[MrsK]

Thanks you for your thoughts.

 

Fouremco, we are not snowbirds but we are retired.  We are cruisers and want to get to a cruise ship and my husband does not want to fly at this time.  We are thinking about being crazy risk takers (not really our style) and seeing if we can get to Cape Liberty on time to catch the Anthem on November 8, so we would be crossing the border in the middle of the night. We also plan to book on the November 14 Anthem sailing.  So if it came to the worst case scenario and we missed the ship we could hang around somewhere and wait for the second sailing.

 

lots-of-km2, we would most likely be crossing at the Peace Bridge.

[DirtyDawg]

25 minutes ago, lots-of-km2 said:

I'm keen to know how efficiently crossing will work on the Lower Bridge (aka Whirlpool Rapids Bridge), which is Nexus only. 

I Love that bridge! ❤️

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, MrsK said:

Thanks you for your thoughts.

 

Fouremco, we are not snowbirds but we are retired.  We are cruisers and want to get to a cruise ship and my husband does not want to fly at this time.  We are thinking about being crazy risk takers (not really our style) and seeing if we can get to Cape Liberty on time to catch the Anthem on November 8, so we would be crossing the border in the middle of the night. We also plan to book on the November 14 Anthem sailing.  So if it came to the worst case scenario and we missed the ship we could hang around somewhere and wait for the second sailing.

 

lots-of-km2, we would most likely be crossing at the Peace Bridge.

I can understand hubby's reluctance to fly, and the drive is certainly doable. Make sure that you have the snow tires on, just in case. 😇

[MrsK]

16 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I can understand hubby's reluctance to fly, and the drive is certainly doable. Make sure that you have the snow tires on, just in case. 😇

For sure, because if they ARE on, then we are NOT going to need them 🤣

[lots-of-km2]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

lots-of-km2, we would most likely be crossing at the Peace Bridge.

 

Peace Bridge (Fort Erie) tends to have heavy commercial truck traffic 24/7. Big rigs. Not sure how that traffic volume would impact the length of time for you to cross.  The Rainbow Bridge, in Niagara Falls, doesn't allow trucks, but could have a backlog of passenger cars and buses that runs up Hwy 420.  The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge allows big commercial rigs and passenger cars, and it's overly loved by people from the Toronto area (which means heavy volume).  My favourite, the Lower Bridge, is NEXUS only, and I have no idea if it'll be operating come November 8. 

 

You might want to consider not making a final decision about exactly where to cross until you're somewhere in the Niagara Peninsula and can get more on-the-ground info from  https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us  and, better yet, from the bridge companies themselves.   Otherwise, you could find yourself queued up in a crummy situation that you don't want to be in, with no provision for a U-turn. 

 

Three of the four bridges are owned by the the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, and they provide real-time traffic info at https://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/ . 

 

The fourth bridge/company, the Peace Bridge, has real-time traffic info at https://www.peacebridge.com/

 

And I agree with @Fouremco that crossing in the early days of the land border unsealing could be full of hiccups. 

Edited October 21, 2021 by lots-of-km2

[hancogran]

6 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

I Love that bridge! ❤️

Us too!  Normally, there's never much of a wait to cross. 

[lots-of-km2]

Just now, hancogran said:

Us too!  Normally, there's never much of a wait to cross. 

Me three!

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, lots-of-km2 said:

 

Peace Bridge (Fort Erie) tends to have heavy commercial truck traffic 24/7. Big rigs. Not sure how that traffic volume would impact the length of time for you to cross.  The Rainbow Bridge, in Niagara Falls, doesn't allow trucks, but could have a backlog of passenger cars and buses that runs up Hwy 420.  The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge allows big commercial rigs and passenger cars, and it's overly loved by people from the Toronto area (which means heavy volume).  My favourite, the Lower Bridge, is NEXUS only, and I have no idea if it'll be operating come November 8. 

 

You might want to consider not making a final decision about exactly where to cross until you're somewhere in the Niagara Peninsula and can get more on-the-ground info from  https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us  and, better yet, from the bridge companies themselves.   Otherwise, you could find yourself queued up in a crummy situation that you don't want to be in, with no provision for a U-turn. 

 

Three of the four bridges are owned by the the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, and they provide real-time traffic info at https://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/ . 

 

The fourth bridge/company, the Peace Bridge, has real-time traffic info at https://www.peacebridge.com/

 

And I agree with @Fouremco that crossing in the early days of the land border unsealing could be full of hiccups. 

Just a quick comment to say that the quote you attributed to me was actually one by @MrsK in post #4.

 

Driving from Ottawa, I seldom enter the US any further west than the Thousand Islands border crossing.

[lots-of-km2]

2 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Just a quick comment to say that the quote you attributed to me was actually one by @MrsK in post #4.

 

You're right -- cut and paste of quote went awry.  Sorry. 

Here's a do-over, directed to @MrsK :

 

7 hours ago, MrsK said:

lots-of-km2, we would most likely be crossing at the Peace Bridge.

Peace Bridge (Fort Erie) tends to have heavy commercial truck traffic 24/7. Big rigs. Not sure how that traffic volume would impact the length of time for you to cross.  The Rainbow Bridge, in Niagara Falls, doesn't allow trucks, but could have a backlog of passenger cars and buses that runs up Hwy 420.  The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge allows big commercial rigs and passenger cars, and it's overly loved by people from the Toronto area (which means heavy volume).  My favourite, the Lower Bridge, is NEXUS only, and I have no idea if it'll be operating come November 8. 

 

You might want to consider not making a final decision about exactly where to cross until you're somewhere in the Niagara Peninsula and can get more on-the-ground info from  https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us  and, better yet, from the bridge companies themselves.   Otherwise, you could find yourself queued up in a crummy situation that you don't want to be in, with no provision for a U-turn. 

 

Three of the four bridges are owned by the the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, and they provide real-time traffic info at https://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/ . 

 

The fourth bridge/company, the Peace Bridge, has real-time traffic info at https://www.peacebridge.com/

 

And I agree with @Fouremco that crossing in the early days of the land border unsealing could be full of hiccups. 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, lots-of-km2 said:

You might want to consider not making a final decision about exactly where to cross until you're somewhere in the Niagara Peninsula and can get more on-the-ground info from  https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us  and, better yet, from the bridge companies themselves.   Otherwise, you could find yourself queued up in a crummy situation that you don't want to be in, with no provision for a U-turn. 

 

Three of the four bridges are owned by the the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, and they provide real-time traffic info at https://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/ . 

I have an app called Niagara Border Crossing which lists delays for cars, for trucks, and for Nexus for each of the 4 bridges, and both directions. I generally check it when I stop at the Tim Horton's in Beamsville (Ontario St) on my way to the border to decide which crossing to use. My preference is the Peace Bridge, but if it is backed up I switch to the Whirlpool.

 

By the way, the Whirlpool is showing no delay in either direction, so I guess it is open.

[lots-of-km2]

5 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I have an app called Niagara Border Crossing which lists delays for cars, for trucks, and for Nexus for each of the 4 bridges, and both directions.

 

Thanks so much!  Hadn't known about it till you mentioned it now.  A convenient tool to have.   Will find and download it. 

[MrsK]

lots-of-km2, thank you for all of the information and links. Most all of our border crossings are done at the Windsor/Detroit border. We have a lot less experience with the others.

 

Fouremco, we considered the 1000 Island Bridge even though we are in the extreme Southwest of Ontario.  We have a son and his family that live in Kingston, so a visit to them could also become a part of the trip.

 

gnome12 thank you for telling me about that app.

 

I appreciate everyone's input.

[sunseeker551]

I'm a little late to the party, but we're planning to cross on the 8th as well. We're heading to southern Ontario on the 6th to visit our son & his family, then leaving from there bright and early (6am-ish) on Monday. We're planning to cross via the peace Bridge and we have Nexus cards so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the wait won't be too bad. We have a condo in Fort Lauderdale that we didn't get to last winter so we're itching to go.  

 

Now we just have to wait for the announcement on whether or not we'll need covid tests to enter the US by land.  They're hinting we will.  That'll be another hurdle to cross...we're leaving Ottawa on the 6th but not crossing until the 8th, so when and where will we get tested?  Calling around Ottawa for appointment information is not encouraging. Right now we're looking at options (Walmarts) along the 401 as we make our way south.  Good luck to anyone trying to cross that day...maybe (hopefully?) we'll all be surprised and it won't be that bad. 

[MrsK]

10 hours ago, sunseeker551 said:

I'm a little late to the party, but we're planning to cross on the 8th as well. We're heading to southern Ontario on the 6th to visit our son & his family, then leaving from there bright and early (6am-ish) on Monday. We're planning to cross via the peace Bridge and we have Nexus cards so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the wait won't be too bad. We have a condo in Fort Lauderdale that we didn't get to last winter so we're itching to go.  

 

Now we just have to wait for the announcement on whether or not we'll need covid tests to enter the US by land.  They're hinting we will.  That'll be another hurdle to cross...we're leaving Ottawa on the 6th but not crossing until the 8th, so when and where will we get tested?  Calling around Ottawa for appointment information is not encouraging. Right now we're looking at options (Walmarts) along the 401 as we make our way south.  Good luck to anyone trying to cross that day...maybe (hopefully?) we'll all be surprised and it won't be that bad. 

For your Covid tests you might want to check out any big chain grocery stores that have pharmacies in them.  I checked online last night and our Real Canadian Superstore also seems to do the testing.

[Sprocket]

9 hours ago, MrsK said:

For your Covid tests you might want to check out any big chain grocery stores that have pharmacies in them.  I checked online last night and our Real Canadian Superstore also seems to do the testing.

 

Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba all seem to have multiple reasonable options for testing.  BC is ridiculously expensive with few choices.

 

If the CDC decides no testing is necessary to cross into the US we can be tested just over the border  15 minutes from home for $40 US.  If not we may as well get the PCR test where we live $159 + but to meet the cruise lines testing we will need another test to board.

[sunseeker551]

I found a few places that were on our route but, fortunately, we don't need a test to cross now.  That sure makes the journey easier.  Now to see how long the lines will be......

 

Good luck to all of those crossing on the 8th!