More than 17K vehicles entered N.B. on first day of Atlantic bubble

New Brunswick allowed more than 17,000 vehicles to enter the province on Friday — the first day of the Atlantic bubble.

The figures were made available at the province's website Saturday. 

There were long lineups at the Aulac entry point between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for most of the day. That's where the bulk of the traffic entered the province with 9,100 personal and commercial vehicles passing through.

Traffic stalled on the highway for much of the day at New Brunswick's screening point. 

Travellers entering the province were stopped by New Brunswick officials to confirm they were residents of Atlantic Canada.

Visitors have to answer questions

Visitors coming to New Brunswick must also answer questions about possible symptoms of COVID-19, their contacts with anyone who may have been ill, and their recent travel history.

Officers are also supposed to collect contact information for public health purposes in the event of an outbreak.

But officials began waving traffic through at 3:45 p.m. Friday because of safety concerns. Traffic was allowed to flow until the backlog cleared.

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the Nova Scotia MLA for Cumberland North, the area that includes the border to New Brunswick, raised concerns about the traffic on Friday on her Facebook page.

In an email to CBC News, New Brunswick government spokesperson Shawn Berry said the province made the decision to forego screening because traffic congestion represented a safety concern.

"Screening resumed when it was safe," he said. "We are looking at improvements to keep things as smooth as possible‎."

It is not clear if officials counted the vehicles that were waved through into the traffic statistics. 

According to a Facebook post made by Smith-McCrossin on Saturday morning, traffic was completely cleared at the border.

About 2,400 people entered New Brunswick from Nova Scotia through Tidnish Road to avoid the long wait at the Aulac entry. 

About 1,900 vehicles left Prince Edward Island and entered New Brunswick from the Confederation Bridge Friday with 1,500 of those personal vehicles. 

More than 2,200 personal and commercial vehicles crossed into New Brunswick at the Campbellton border, and more than 1,500 vehicles entered at St. Jacques — both along the Quebec border.

There were 168 vehicles that were refused entry to the province on Friday.