Heavy Traffic Expected At S’pore Land Checkpoints During CNY 2024, Travellers May Face 3-Hour Wait: ICA

ICA Warns Of Heavy Traffic At Land Checkpoints For CNY 2024

For the lead-up to and during the Chinese New Year (CNY) period, heavy traffic is expected at the land checkpoints in Singapore.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) announced as such in an advisory on Friday (2 Feb).

Travellers driving by car may have to wait for up to three hours to clear immigration.

As such, the authority has advised visitors to plan ahead and check on the traffic situation regularly.

Heavy traffic expected at land checkpoints for CNY 2024

In an advisory published on 2 Feb, ICA warned of heavy traffic in the lead-up to and during the CNY period at the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.

It expects “very heavy” traffic from 8 to 13 Feb.

The authority also noted that more travellers used the checkpoints over long weekends in January.

In the recent weekend from 26 to 28 Jan, there was continuous heavy traffic at the checkpoints with over 1.37 million travellers.

This amounts to about 458,000 crossings daily.

There was also an increase of close to 14% in daily average crossings as compared to the long weekend for the New Year when there were 402,000 crossings daily.

Travellers should factor in waiting time

As such, ICA has advised travellers to factor in additional waiting time for immigration clearance, especially during the CNY weekend.

Those clearing immigration by car may even have to wait for up to three hours.

“We seek travellers’ understanding and cooperation to be patient, observe traffic rules, maintain lane discipline, and cooperate with ICA officers,” ICA said.

Before starting their journey, motorists can check the traffic situation via the Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s One Motoring website or via the Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System (EMAS) installed along the BKE and AYE.

Updates will also be available on ICA’s Facebook and X accounts, as well as radio broadcasts on the following stations:

• One 91.3
• Kiss92
• Hao 96.3
• UFM 100.3

Motorists have also been advised to adhere to the following measures for a smoother trip:

• Avoid cutting queues. Road users caught doing this will be asked to rejoin the queue
• Ensure passport has remaining validity of at least six months
• Comply with rules such as not bringing in prohibited items and declaring dutiable or controlled items
• Observe the “three-quarter tank” rule. Offenders may face legal repercussions and will not be able to proceed with their journey

The advisory noted that ‘bak kwa’ and potted plants are considered controlled items.

For a full list of prohibited, controlled and dutiable items, visit the ICA website.

Also read: Heavy Traffic Expected At S’pore-JB Checkpoints Till 31 Dec, Immigration Clearance May Take Longer

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Featured image adapted from One Motoring.