If you were going to head south to the US to get gas from Bellingham or Blaine on Monday, it might be best to leave that errand for another day. The wait times for the border lineups to get across at Peace Arch are hours long, and there’s no sign of them letting up anytime soon.
Many suggest that the waits are due to the Taylor Swift fan exodus, which makes a lot of sense after the superstar’s three consecutive performances. BC Place predicted that the majority of fans would be coming from outside Vancouver, which meant plenty of Americans would be coming from Washington, Oregon, and potentially even California for the shows.
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As of Monday afternoon, the wait times vary between 15 minutes to more than two hours, with those using Nexus feeling a bit less of the squeeze. Peace Arch to Blaine is showing a 75-minute wait, but the wait for the Nexus is 0 minutes, according to the US Customs and Border Protections.
If I had a nickel for every time I crossed the border into Canada for Taylor Swift, I’d have 2 nickels – which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice right? 😆 pic.twitter.com/XZCIkCnvpO
— “Hi Adammm!!!” (ERAS CLOSING NIGHT) 🩵 (@TheAdamReeves) December 7, 2024
The Pacific Highway crossing is also showing a long wait, at 80 minutes as of 2:30 pm.
One person claimed the vibe was much more positive for folks heading across before the shows.
“We were one of those vehicles! It was amazing to see people getting out of their cars to trade friendship bracelets while waiting to get through the border ❤️,” Katie Sprague shared on X.
Another person expressed that they forgot about the influx of fans and crossed the border during the weekend with a five-hour wait.
Thought we would take a fun day trip down to Washington
Paid the price completely not realizing everyone and their momma is trying to go to Vancouver for Taylor Swift tonight
What is normally a 10 minute border crossing is going to be 5 hours
But hey we saw an amazing rainbow…
— Alex Hart (@IHartSports_) December 7, 2024
The weekend delays were reportedly longer than Monday, and the BC Ministry of Transportation’s social media account said that was due to people returning home after the shows on Friday and Saturday.
🇨🇦➡️🇺🇸 Another busy go for the border crossings. Today it’s a southbound delay, as many are returning to the USA after spending the weekend in Vancouver.👩🎤🎙️
⏳ Lineups at the #PeaceArch & #PacificHwy are averaging a three [3] hour delay.
ℹ️ You may move more swiftly by… pic.twitter.com/9975aufSgt
— DriveBC (@DriveBC) December 8, 2024
Are you stuck in traffic? Let us know!