AULAC, N.B. -- One week ago the mayors in Sackville, N.B. and Amherst, N.S., voiced their concerns over the delays at the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border.
A meeting has since been held with government officials to discuss future changes to the Aulac crossing and some essential workers say they're already seeing improvements.
It was smooth sailing Friday for some visitors heading into New Brunswick.
"It was more or less, people were just slowing down to thirty, and it was bumper to bumper, but we never stopped and it was really smooth going through," said Nova Scotia resident Marvin Burnett.
The meeting held this week with New Brunswick's Department of Public Safety, the premier's chief of staff, and the mayors of Sackville and Amherst addressed some of the issues the mayors were concerned about.
"They were also saying we're trying a variety of things to get it better, including signage, and instead of one lane, getting it to two and also having it updated on their online registration to make it more effective," said Sackville mayor John Higham.
Last week the mayors of Amherst and Sackville wrote a letter to New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, outlining their concerns.
"What we're trying to do is encourage them to be more efficient so that the waits are not excessive," said Amherst mayor David Kogon."An hour or two wait does not sit well with people, it impacts negatively on commercial traffic, it means people won't cross the border to do some shopping and stimulate our mutual economies."
Some truckers say the Aulac border has improved since the first days of the Atlantic bubble.
"They've divided the highway, passenger vehicles on the left lane, commercial on the right," said trucker Jim Gaunce. "I've crossed twice since then and had no issues either time."
But there have been bumps in the road for essential workers.
"We've had drivers that get paid by the mile and we had one young lady with our company that spent four hours going about a quarter of a mile and they don't make money this way," said trucker Paul Brake.
The mayors say border officers are obliged to enforce the emergency health order and question vehicles entering the province
But when the line begins to grow too long, they're also required to waive cars through to avoid any other potential health hazards.
