FredaT

A few years ago, maybe when the new identification rules were first in effect , the wait at the border going into the US was almost 3 hours on a Sunday morning in July.
How have the waits been lately? I took the main border crossing-- Lacolle to Champlain NY. Is there a good alternative smaller crossing? I don't want to go too far out of my way, heading to Lake George NY

And Happy Canada Day!

wliwl

Try this:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/times/menu-e.html

and this

http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/index.asp

FredaT

Thank you, wliwl. I have seen these before, but unless I remember to get up early for the next few Sunday mornings and check the US site at the time of day I'm thinking of traveling, I won't get a picture of how good or bad an idea it is to travel then.
The websites are very good to remind other people about, though!

wliwl

Freda - I have to admit I was surprised to see that the waits looked really short... We ski at Tremblant and have faced some bad waits in the dead of winter (maybe all ski traffic, I don't know). On the other hand, I don't think any of the border crossings are reliably short, so probably best to just bite the bullet and hope for the best.

Have fun in Lake George. Pretty country.

FredaT

Did anyone do this border crossing this past weekend?

FredaT

An update:
I checked the US website before I left Montreal and it said there were only 10-15 delays at the main Lacolle to Champlain border, so I chanced it. When I arrived at the border 50 minutes later, the wait really was about 15 minutes. I thought about taking road 202 to an alternate border crossing if necessary (from exit 2, I think) but the road was closed . The only way to get to 202 would then have been from exit 1, which is just by the Lacolle border crossing area anyway, If that border had been busy like in past years, the detour would have been useless since you'd have to get through the traffic right at the border just to get to an alternative crossing.

I think many fewer people from the US are traveling to Canada, at least to Quebec because of the economy in general, the exchange rate, and the passport regulation.

NYCvoyager

It's been a few years since I drove to Montreal from New York but the last time I returned to the U.S. I got off at the last exit in Quebec and drove East for a couple of miles and there was a very small border crossing with only one or two cars waiting. We crossed there and then got back on I-87 a few miles south of the border. It was very easy and much more enjoyable and even sort of quaint as the crossing post was so small. I just looked on a map to figure it out.

Vttraveler

We often take the exit described in the last post. It is at km 6 in Quebec. You go east on 202 to a crossroads then south to the NY border, coming in slightly west of Rouses Point. We continue east to the Champlain Islands in Vt but you can also get back on I-87