Truck blockades come to Windsor and solidify at Coutts border crossings

Protesters are now blocking cross-border traffic at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., adding to a similar blockade that has solidified at Alberta's crossing at Coutts. Essex County OPP said the Ambassador Bridge couldn't be accessed entering the U.S. or Canada as of 8 p.m. Monday night, and suggested travelers should instead use the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia, Ont.

The Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs Border Protection have both fully staffed the Bluewater Bridge to address the diverted traffic, the Ontario Trucking Association reported Tuesday morning.

Alberta protesters, who have been in place since Feb.

5, have recently allowed some traffic to pass. Alberta RCMP tweeted late Monday night that north and southbound lanes at the Coutts border were once again fully blocked, although the traffic began to move once again early Tuesday morning.

Protesters are calling for an end to a vaccine mandate that applies to cross-border truck drivers, along with an array of other demands largely linked to public health restrictions. Before the blockades were established, the vaccine mandate itself had little impact on cross-border truck traffic, though. Border officials processed 106,274 truck drivers from Jan.

24-30, compared to 97,321 from Jan.

17-23 - an increase of 9.2%. Canada introduced its vaccine mandate Jan.

15, while the U.S. closed its border to non-vaccinated truck drivers on Jan.

22. The increase still lagged behind a 13% bump in the number of non-commercial highway travelers, which rose to 134,927 people during the week.

The number of truck drivers who crossed Jan.

24-30 was about 5% lower year over year, when compared to the 111,471 who crossed during the same week in 2021. But it was about 4% higher than the 101,872 who crossed Jan.

24-30, 2019, before the pandemic was declared. During the week of Jan.

17-23, there were 111,360 truck drivers who crossed in 2021; 106,785 in 2020; and 107,665 in 2019.

• This story has been updated to reflect the return of partial traffic flows at the Coutts border crossing.