CALAIS – Stepped up screening of travelers slowed traffic to a crawl at Maine’s border stations earlier this week, creating long lines and causing some U.S. merchants to see red.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials increased their frequency of identification checks last weekend, saying it’s not a new policy and the checking will continue. It caused delays of 40 minutes or longer at some crossings, and merchants worry that potential Canadian customers will turn around rather than wait in line.

“It’s 100 percent checks for anyone over 14 and under 79 years of age,” Charles Pelletier, the port director at Madawaska, said Tuesday. “We received a memo from the Boston Field Office [last weekend].

“I don’t know if it’s permanent, but it will continue for a period of time,” Pelletier said. “New procedures are coming for January 2008. Maybe this is part of it.”

President Bush has pushed for a passport-only entry into this country, although he has hinted in recent weeks at some kind of “flexibility.”

Pelletier believes it may be a transition period to get people adjusted to the new procedures coming down the road. He believes the directive is for the entire northern border of the country, or at least for all border stations overseen by the Boston Field Office, which involves all of New England.

Ted Woo, a public information spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Boston, said the practice is not new.

“We are increasing the frequency of checking identification,” he said. “That’s our job: to check who enters the country. This is not a special operation, and it is not a change in policy. It will continue.”

He said the process would become faster when the passport is used for entry. In the meantime, he said, it is “increased security checks.”

“Expect it to continue,” Woo added.

On Wednesday he acknowledged that there had been some long delays and that border agents have begun using “mitigating factors” to ease the delays. As an example, he said, someone well known to agents who may cross the border several times a day may not have to stop each time and produce identification.

Photo identification cards such as a driver’s license, a Maine identification card or passport (current or expired) are acceptable, but documents such as a birth certificate or voter registration card are also acceptable.

The rub comes when border officials have to type information into their computers. Passports are the only identification that can be scanned directly into their system.

It’s unusual to find long lines at border crossings at this time of year, but that’s what happened last weekend at various border crossings as federal officers asked to see driver’s licenses or identification cards. They then had to keyboard in the person’s name and other information. Travelers who encountered an agent with limited typing skills faced an excruciating wait.

Pelletier said the line in Madawaska was 40 minutes long Saturday during periods of higher traffic. Most of the time, he said, it was 20 to 25 minutes. In Calais, lines were longer and people were complaining that they had to wait for more than an hour in some cases.

While travelers are upset, merchants on the U.S. side of the border are hopping mad.

The stepped up ID checks began Friday, just in time for Canada’s Victoria weekend, when Canadians head south to shop or to enjoy a holiday in the United States. This year border merchants anticipated seeing gold because the Canadian dollar was on par with the U.S. dollar for the first time in years. They were rubbing their hands, expecting a resurgence in business that has languished for years because of the differences in the values of the currencies.

But the long holiday weekend turned out to be a bad dream for merchants. Many Canadians caught in the glut of traffic turned around and went home.

The locals are not happy.

One American living in Canada – who has a passport – waited 25 minutes to cross Tuesday morning. “They were checking 100 percent – every person, every dog, every cat,” she said. “This is going to kill Calais business.”

Linda Howe, president of the St. Croix Valley Chamber of Commerce in Calais, said she’d heard from unhappy merchants. “Merchants felt finally the Canadian dollar is strong, finally saw some light at the end of the tunnel and wham, this hit them like a ton of bricks,” she said.

The Chamber has contacted Maine’s U.S. congressional delegation. “We hope that we won’t have to deal with this all summer long,” she said.

Sen. Susan Collins said she had contacted “officials with Customs and Border Patrol to express my concern about the serious traffic backups at the U.S.-Canada border. CBP has assured me that they will advise port directors at the border to use discretion to help relieve the tie-ups. This is especially important as we head into the busy Memorial Day weekend. I will continue to press Customs and Border Patrol to improve its efficiency as we attempt to balance homeland security concerns with the practical reality of day-to-day life in border communities.”

“This is going to have a profound effect on business in the community,” Calais assistant City Manager Jim Porter said.

In Houlton, merchants reported no ill effects. In fact, several reported business as usual or better.

At Marden’s in Houlton, management team member Karla Hersey quickly brushed off the idea that the identification policy might have affected business at the discount store.

“Heavens, no,” Hersey said Tuesday afternoon. “Our Canadian business has increased. On the weekends, especially, our parking lot is packed with cars that have Canadian [license] plates. … It’s been really good.”

The same was true at Doc’s Place, a gas station and convenience store on the North Road. Manager Brian Williams said that the business, which is near Interstate 95, sees a lot of Canadian patrons. Thus far, he doesn’t believe those numbers have dropped.

Although traffic at the Houlton port of entry was brisk Tuesday afternoon, there did not seem to be a significant delay in automobiles crossing into the United States.

The picture wasn’t as rosy in Madawaska, where the stepped-up security was creating business problems.

“We’ve seen plenty of complaints the past two days,” Dennis Michaud, executive director of the Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday. “The calls are not only from businesses but local citizens going back and forth.

“I am also getting calls from Canadians saying they won’t bother coming to the U.S.,” he added. “They will stay home because they don’t want the hassle at the border. They don’t want to bother with it.”

Citizens of the United States cannot be refused entry, but passage through the port of entry can be delayed for those not having photo identification cards while inquiries are made.

The Maine Tourism Association also is worried.

“Obviously any delay isn’t good for us,” Vaughn Stinson, chief executive officer of the MTA, said Tuesday. “We don’t want people inconvenienced. My concern beyond this is the new border procedures that will go in another year or thereabouts where everybody has to have a passport.”

Stinson said if the delays last, it will be a problem. “Anything beyond 10 minutes I hate to see,” he said, “and 45 minutes I can see how people would be very short-tempered with that. Getting [in line] longer becomes much more unacceptable to the visitor.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud said Tuesday he’d received calls from Mainers who were tired of waiting at the border and was checking with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to see what is causing the delays.

Although there is a need for heightened alert during these difficult times, the congressman said the state’s border with Canada was nothing like the southern border shared with Mexico.

“We can intelligently and responsibly manage the northern border in a way that ensures our security without unnecessarily hampering travel and commerce across the border,” he said.

BDN Reporter Jen Lynds contributed to this story.