Traffic alert: Boxing Day madness hits outlet malls

Boxing Day shoppers headed to McArthur Glen near the Vancouver airport found themselves in a long line of slow-moving traffic midday Monday.

Vehicles were lined up well up Granville Street leading onto the Arthur Laing Bridge toward the airport in Richmond.

The designer outlet mall on Sea Island has 80 retailers and is one of the busiest destinations for holiday shoppers on Dec. 26.

A communications assistant at the Tsawwassen Mills mega-mall near B.C. Ferries also reported being “very busy” on Boxing Day, but was unable to say how crowded the roads and parking lots were.

Shoppers and others crossing into Washington state were waiting around 30 minutes to get through the border around 1 p.m., and the return waits were an hour or more coming back into B.C. through both Blaine crossings.