$48.3 million contract awarded for new border crossing

The Associated Press

12/31/2007

CALAIS, Maine — A Massachusetts construction company has won a $48.3 million contract for a new U.S./Canada border crossing in Maine.

Work is due to begin in February on the project, which will help reduce traffic congestion at two existing border crossings between Calais and St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

The goal is to divert commercial traffic to the new crossing, which will be better equipped for screening and inspecting trucks. Neither of the existing crossings had enough space to accommodate a modern, commercial crossing.

The General Services Administration announced Dec. 27 that J.J. Contractors Inc. of Lowell, Mass., will build the Calais Land Port of Entry for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.

“The design of the new Calais Land Port of Entry will increase border security while easing the free flow of goods and people,” said Dennis Smith, regional GSA administrator.

The new border crossing should relieve congestion at the Ferry Point Bridge that crosses the St. Croix River and links the downtown districts of Calais and St. Stephen. There’s a lesser-used checkpoint a mile upriver at the Milltown Bridge.

With more than 14,000 cars and 800 trucks crossing the two bridges on a typical summer day, the crossings are the eighth busiest along the 4,000-mile northern border.

The project, which is slated to open near the Calais Industrial Park in two years, has an overall price tag of more than $120 million, to be shared by the United States and Canada.