Lewiston Queenston Bridge

I don’t take this bridge often. Perhaps once a year these days. Recently by accident, but since I don’t mind talking the «scenic route» on occasion, that unintended detour was fine.
It’s a nice and very functional bridge. Not as high as the Peace Bridge or as scenic as the Rainbow, it’s highly fictional and gets you to Canada just like the other two do.
To get there from the US you drive through the town of Niagara Falls on the thruway. Pass the outlet mall. And then another 10 miles or so and you hit this bridge.
I’ve heard that it’s never busy, but I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t take it often enough to confirm that. But I happily take it on occasion.

Clearly the easiest bridge to cross in terms of traffic and customs delay, but they you have to drive back upriver to the respective cities, even if the downriver villages of Lewiston and Niagara-​on-​the-​Lake are more scenic and restful.
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Known as the Lewiston Queenston Bridge on the United States side of boarder and the Queenston Lewiston Bridge on the Canadian side, this is the bridge you want to take from the Buffalo or Niagara Falls area when heading into Canada toward Toronto and want to miss the congestion and tourist traffic of Niagara Falls, Fort Éire or Buffalo areas. It’s far less congested with traffic and the customs agents, particularly those on the US side have a reputation of being far more polite and pleasant.
The bridge and bridge areas have recently been greatly improved. Before crossing into Canada the is a brand spanking new duty free store, perfect for picking up a bottle booze or a carton of cigarettes as purchasing the same in Canada is far more expensive and because Canada has a Provincial government run liquor store system, far less of a hassle.
Though the bridge itself isn’t all that much an inspiring structure, the crossing experience is so superior to experiences one typically encounters using the Peace or Rainbow bridges, I’m rating it Five Stars.

One of my favorite crossings between Ontario and New York!
The bridge makes a short crossing over the Niagara River between Queenston, ON and Lewiston, NY. It is well-​maintained and entry to and exit from on either side of the border is usually effortless.
I suspect the bridge is owned by the respective governments, so the tolls are very reasonable. By the way, it is a free ride from Ontario to New York, pay the toll on the way back to Ontario.

So this is actually called the Lewiston Bridge… oops. Thanks Nicole for pointing out my error. I do like a «Lemontwiston» my frozen custard and ice cream when I’m up in Middlesbrough, England, and «Lemontwiston» is the closest I can get to a parody of Lewiston. And I wonder who the Queen of England is banging these days, I’m sure the British tabloids know who the «Queens-​on». Yeah I’m reaching.
Personal experience: Well, I’ve crossed this bridge more than a few times now, most notably my first crossing, during the World Cup of 2006, and they made me late to watch the Semi Final (gasp), still, I have no really hard feelings towards it. My truly heinous experiences happened at the Rainbow Bridge. The one that has always been good to me is the Peace Bridge.
I thought this bridge was the Whirlpool Bridge, so my joke was going to be: Remove the «L» at the end of the name, and you have exactly what happens inside the toilet bowl when you flush after a #2.
And also: This bridge was originally a sheep-​only crossing. Hence its original name, the Woolpool Bridge.
These days, they «whirl» you across if you have a NEXUS card. But other than that little has changed. It is a bridge where sheep cross. BURN! OK just kidding.
I give this bridge a mediocre review because I’ve only used it once, and both times I was held up for a long time (see what I did there? No? Neither did I).
The first time I used this bridge was during World Cup 2006. I wanted to get back home to watch Italy v Germany (Semi Final) and it didn’t work out at all because they kept me here forevvvvvvvvver. They always do long interrogations when I cross borders into the USA, but this was a little extreme.
In any case, once I get a NEXUS card I will give it another try and see if my rating improves.

Short wait times, lots of lanes, nice customs agents… Me likey!
From the Northtowns like Grand Island («the island»), North Tonawanda, north East Amherst, etc. the Queenston-​Lewiston Bridge is an easy hop, skip, and jump into Canada.
Just don’t forget your enhanced license or passport. And if you’re going to IKEA, grab me a bag o’ meatballs, please!

Five lane toll bridge with lanes adjustable for direction. Typically three one way and two the other.
Toll is CAN$ 3.75 or US$ 3.50 in 2014. Collected in westbound (to Canada) direction only, after passing through customs.