Long wait times at Roosville border has state representative Mike Cuffe worried

— Photo courtesy Carandrider.com

MIke Cuffe, Montana state representative serving Eureka and surrounding areas, has a dilemma on his hands. He hopes the region can to continue to attract Canadian visitors to Eureka and the Flathead Valley even though they face up to a three hour wait to return to Canada through Canada Customs. He states that long wait times at the US - Canadian border are harming the economy and will negatively impact visitation.

Cuffe recently walked the stalled line up of cars, trucks and motorcycles of Canadians returning home after the May long weekend. All he heard along the way was the comment from frustrated visitors, "Never again."

Our main concern is the huge backup of traffic of folks returning to BC and Alberta at the end of three-day holidays, as well as growing backups during many summer days, Mike Cuffe told the Flathead Beacon newspaper. "I consider this a vital issue to Eureka, and a big thing for the Flathead, too. It's a very obvious safety issue."

Cuffe, according the Beacon, is spearheading an effort to work with the Canadian government to find solutions while gathering support on the American side. He has drafted fliers with contact information for members of Parliament in BC and Alberta and has been passing them out at the border.

Some of this solutions includes:

1) Adding more staff to both Roosville Border crossings
2) Creating a NEXUS card lane for expedited entry.
3) Adding a fourth lane for inspections that would be staffed during busy times.

Last year 229,713 vehicles with 356,801 people traveled into Montana through Roosville, making it the second most heavily used port in Montana and the 24th busiest northern station in the US. At the this point Rep. Cuffe has also enlisted the support of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce president Joe Unterreiner and Montana Senator John Walsh.

Source: Flathead Beacon