Being the most direct route between the major cities of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, the crossing is the third-busiest on the border with up to 4,800 cars a day.

Trucks and other commercial vehicles are prohibited from this location and use the Pacific Highway Border Crossing, which is 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) eastward.

In 1882, the initial border station was established at Elgin on the Nicomekl River about 9 kilometres (6 mi) northwest of the present crossing.

When the Great Northern Railway relocated its track via White Rock in 1909, the border station moved westward to the present location near the foreshore.

The General Services Administration constructed the new state-of-the-art facility which opened in 2010 but was officially dedicated the next year.