Heavy traffic, queues of over 2 hours at Causeway on 1st day of March school holidays

Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has warned that the Woodlands checkpoint is experiencing very heavy departure traffic, with waiting times of more than two hours to Woodlands Checkpoint.

School holidays, heavy traffic

ICA had previously warned travellers to expect heavy traffic at both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints due to the March school holidays, between Friday, Mar. 14 and Monday, Mar. 24.

At 9:10am on Mar. 15, ICA posted on social media that the Woodlands checkpoint was experiencing very heavy departure traffic due to tailback from Malaysia.

Sites used to monitor traffic at the Causeway, such as Checkpoint.SG showed that as of 11:25 AM, the Causeway had a queue extending from the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in Johor Bahru back to the Woodlands Checkpoint.

The photos also showed, as per ICA's warning, that the departure car queue extended beyond Woodlands Avenue 3 and Exit 10A, with traffic extending beyond what the camera could show.

ICA estimated that the waiting time to Woodland's checkpoint was more than two hours.

At the Second Link in Tuas, traffic appeared to be marginally better.

While there was still a significant queue before the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex in Johor, there did not appear to be much traffic before the Singaporean checkpoint.

Early warning

ICA had warned travellers earlier of potential heavy traffic during the school holiday period, saying that over 3 million travellers had crossed at Woodlands and Tuas during a six-day period over Chinese New Year.

It asked travellers to cooperate with ICA officers, observe traffic rules, maintain lane discipline, and check the traffic situation at the various checkpoints before embarking on their journey.

It also reminded travellers to ensure their passports had a remaining validity of at least six months and encouraged those travelling by bus to use QR codes for faster and more convenient immigration clearance.

QR codes can be used by travellers at enabled automated lanes and Special Assistance Lanes in bus halls.

Top image via Checkpoints.sg