US embassy cable - 04HALIFAX223

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN, ETRD, PREL, CA, Trade, Transportation, Canada-US Exchange 
SUBJECT: BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE:  BADLY NEEDED NEW ENGLAND-ATLANTIC 
CANADA BRIDGE MOVING FORWARD 
 
1.  As debates about new border infrastructure continue, a 
coalition of local, state, provincial and federal officials in 
the U.S. and Canada have been quietly pushing for a new crossing 
to replace the inadequate two-lane bridge between Calais, ME and 
St. Stephen, NB.  The eighth-busiest border crossing is the 
gateway for the vast majority of trade between the U.S. and 
Atlantic Canada.  Much of it is live (shellfish) or very fresh 
(seafood, Christmas trees) and border delays can severely reduce 
a cargo's value. 
 
2.  Plans are moving forward to build a new bridge and 
inspection area to supplement the existing outdated and 
inadequate infrastructure.  Maine Transportation Commissioner 
David Cole and his staff told Ambassador and CG about the 
27-year history of the project, noting that consensus has 
emerged in recent years on both the U.S. and Canadian sides that 
a new bridge is vital if trade is to continue to grow.  The 
government of Maine sees a new bridge as a key component of the 
state's economic development, as does the province of New 
Brunswick.  At the local level there is agreement on the need 
for the new crossing as well as its site, with few if any 
objections raised to the project.  Most local residents, in 
fact, would welcome the diversion of much of the traffic that 
now winds through and snarls downtown streets on both sides of 
the border. 
 
3.   DHS Assistant Port Director Tim Dannell stressed to us the 
importance to U.S. security of replacing the existing inadequate 
inspection facilities.   The existing Canadian inspection area 
is marginally better than on the U.S. side, where DHS officers 
work out of a 70-year old building.  A new crossing will have 
much more space for inspections and will allow deployment of 
state of the art technologies to detect suspicious shipments. 
Additional bridge lanes will allow for the possibility of 
introducing FAST/NEXUS to further speed legitimate travel and 
commerce. 
 
4.  Funding remains the final major hurdle for the project.  On 
the Canadian side both the provincial and federal governments 
indicate that money will be available when the project has all 
necessary approvals.  Maine officials tell us that they are 
pleased with the progress being made toward the Presidential 
Permit required for the new border crossing and are cautiously 
optimistic that the Congress will approve the money necessary to 
get the much needed new bridge underway soon. 
 
HILL