Date:  Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Contact: Dustin Terpening, WSDOT Communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)

BLAINE – The next time you're crossing the border into Canada, be sure to check the WSDOT Web site. Eleven new cameras will help make it easier to pick the crossing with the shortest lines. The cameras are available via www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/border/.   

Sixteen cameras are available for all four border crossings. There are eight cameras on I-5, five on SR 543, two on SR 539 and one on SR 9.

The I-5 Peace Arch border crossing is the third busiest passenger vehicle crossing on the U.S.-Canada border, and the SR 543 Pacific Highway crossing is the fourth busiest commercial crossing.

WSDOT also installed traffic detectors at each crossing to measure the border wait times. The WSDOT Web site and I-5 radios and signs will display the wait times, helping drivers make informed decisions about where to cross. Engineers are connecting the wires to the system and expect to broadcast the wait times by April.

New camera locations:

• I-5 at Mitchell Avenue
• I-5 at Odell Road
• I-5 south of Odell Road
• I-5 at Loomis Trail Road
• SR 543 at Boblett Street
• SR 543 at H St
• SR 543 at D St
• SR 543 at border (two cameras)
• SR 539 at Badger Road (SR 546)
• SR 539 at border
• SR 9 at Front Street (expected to be available next week)

The advance information will help drivers make choices before they hit the road. WSDOT also has made traffic maps and cameras available for many Web-accessible cell phones at www.wsdot.wa.gov/small.  

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