MILK RIVER, ALTA. --
RCMP say a second blockade on a freeway resulting in the primary United States border crossing in Alberta has choked off visitors.
"Protesters have stopped visitors from going southbound on Freeway 4," RCMP Cpl. Curtis Peters mentioned Thursday.
"There is a crowd there. We're advising the general public to keep away from the world once more."
Protesters agreed Wednesday to open a lane on either side of the freeway on the crossing in Coutts, Alta., the place there was a blockade since Saturday. However since then, there was no stream of autos crossing the border.
The brand new blockade is about 18 kilometres north of Coutts and, though numbers have decreased since Wednesday evening, there was nonetheless a big presence Thursday morning with semi-trailers, heavy tools and vehicles blocking entry.
Automobiles flying Canadian flags and indicators saying "we wish freedom" moved up and down the freeway north of the blockade with horns blaring.
RCMP mentioned Wednesday evening that officers can be offering escorts to anybody needing to get via the blockade.
"It form of choked off," mentioned Peters. "We did escort some south. I do not know what number of.
"I'd say it is actually unlucky for the folks of Coutts and for these needing to cross the border."
Demonstrators started parking their vehicles and different autos close to the Coutts crossing Saturday in solidarity with comparable occasions in Ottawa and countrywide to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates and broader public well being measures.
The deadlock has stranded travellers and cross-border truckers, compromised hundreds of thousands of dollars in commerce and impeded entry to fundamental items and medical companies for space residents.
On Tuesday, some demonstrators left the blockade after Mounties introduced that negotiations to finish the standoff had failed and so they had been ready to make arrests and tow autos.
However that transfer did not sit properly with some protesters, who breached a police barrier to affix the blockade.
Peters mentioned he wasn't certain if negotiations would start with the organizers of the second blockade.
"We're reassessing in the intervening time. We're engaged on it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Feb. 3, 2022
A driver crosses an open lane after a breakthrough to resolve the deadlock at a protest blockade on the U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., on Feb. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
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