Border wait times in B.C. as long as 2.5 hours at Pacific Highway crossing

The wait to go into the U.S. at the Pacific Highway crossing was as long as 2.5 hours with four lanes open on Good Friday in the afternoon.

A chaotic scene greeted visitors at the crossing that takes drivers from Surrey into Blaine, Wash.

Coverage of border crossings on Globalnews.ca:

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Anyone pulling up to the border would have found vehicles lined up past many of the signs directing them to the crossing.

One man caught in the traffic said he was just trying to go home.

Asked whether he should have crossed last night, he said, “definitely.”

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Meanwhile, a woman said she was just lining up to collect a package in her mailbox.

She laughed when it was suggested to her that this might not have been the best day to grab it.

READ MORE: What to expect on B.C. roads this Easter long weekend

While the wait was lengthy at the Pacific Highway crossing, matters weren’t much better at the Peace Arch crossing, where it was as long as two hours with six lanes open, down from the 10 that are normally open.

Meanwhile, the Aldergrove crossing into Lynden, Wash. was 65 minutes long with three lanes open, while the Abbotsford-Huntingdon crossing into Sumas, Wash. was 45 minutes long with four lanes open.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has estimated that as many as 160,000 travellers passed through the five U.S. border crossings in the Lower Mainland on Good Friday and Easter Monday last year.

They recommended that people cross the border in the morning.

• With files from Veronica Beltran, CKNW