GHY Tradelines

(Transport Canada)

The Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Transport), and Ann Gray, vice-chair of the board of directors of Blue Water Bridge Canada, joined with community leaders and border agency representatives today to celebrate the completion of improvements at the Blue Water Bridge, one of the country’s busiest cross-border bridges.

“The Canadian Plaza of the Blue Water Bridge is an essential link between Canada and the United States,” said Minister Fletcher. “The Government of Canada’s investment will help reduce traffic congestion and improve trade.”

“Federal funding was an important factor that allowed Blue Water Bridge Canada to complete its infrastructure projects in a timely manner. This will ensure that this vital cross-border facility provides a safe, efficient and enjoyable experience for our customers today and into the future,” said Ann Gray.

Improvements to the Canadian Plaza are the result of a joint effort by the Government of Canada and Blue Water Bridge Canada, each of which has contributed up to $10 million to this major project. The work involved widening the plaza to accommodate the widening of Highway 402. It also included constructing new Canada Border Services Agency inspection booths and installing a dynamic messaging system to provide real-time information to commercial and passenger traffic. New storm water management pumping stations and improved communications, lighting and electrical systems have also been completed.

Federal funding for this project came from the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund. The Government of Canada accelerated its contribution under Canada’s Economic Action Plan, making it possible to complete the improvements sooner. This much-needed stimulus will help reduce traffic congestion, facilitate local border crossings, and complement recent and planned investments by the U.S. on its side of the border. Through such investments, the Government of Canada creates jobs, stimulates the economy, supports Canada’s competitiveness, strengthens the integrity of federal infrastructure and improves the safety of the travelling public.

The Canadian half of the Blue Water Bridge is owned and operated by Blue Water Bridge Canada, a federal Crown corporation. With approximately 5,000 commercial vehicles crossing the bridge daily, it is Canada’s second-busiest international commercial crossing for trucks and is the third busiest for total vehicles. This crossing is a key component of the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor.
 

(Sheldon Alberts — Postmedia News, Vancouver Sun)

Efforts to ease congestion at one of the busiest Canada-U.S. border crossings are being hampered by “woefully insufficient” American customs infrastructure and ill-considered budget cuts, a congressional panel heard Tuesday.

The problems at the Blue Water Bridge crossing, which links Sarnia, Ont., to Port Huron, Mich., are so acute that U.S. agents must conduct secondary inspections of commercial vehicles at off-site locations because the existing customs plaza lacks enough space to accommodate on-site searches. […]

A $583-million U.S. project that would have added seven “primary inspection lanes” at the American customs plaza — and reduced average waiting times from about 30 minutes to three — has fallen victim to cost-cutting. Read more: here.

(Paul Morden —The Observer/TimesHerald)

Tenants are expected to move into Blue Water Bridge Canada’s new $68 million building in the next six weeks.

The five-story building that will be home to Canada Border Services, customs brokers, the Canada Food Inspection Agency and Blue Water Bridge Canada’s offices, is on schedule and on budget, said Chuck Chrapko, president and chief executive officer of Blue Water Bridge Canada.

An additional $20 million in infrastructure work on the Canadian side is expected to be finished this month. The work includes new electronic signs and three stormwater pumping stations. Read more here.

(Detroit Free Press)

A snowstorm that shut down a key Canadian highway and stopped truck traffic from entering Ontario from Port Huron underscored a concern that the state had strongly warned about: What happens if a key trade route between Michigan and Ontario is interrupted?

That happened Tuesday when authorities closed the Blue Water Bridge when Ontario roads, including the key Highway 402, were buried under drifts as high as 5 feet, stranding hundreds of truck drivers and other motorists in their vehicles. Traffic was rerouted to the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, causing miles-long lines of trucks on I-75, I-96 and I-94. Read more here.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Today’s Trucking)/spanbr /br /The President of the Blue Water Bridge (BWB) linking Sarnia, Ont. and Port Huron, Mich. says he has no problem with a proposed new public-private bridge in nearby Windsor-Detroit.br /br /In a letter to Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) officials at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, BWB President and CEO Chuck Chrapko reiterated the crown corporation’s support for the DRIC project, adding that the Sarnia-Port Huron border point would be largely unaffected by an additional crossing at the Detroit-Windsor Gateway. Read more a href=”http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=24065″here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Trucknews.com)br //spanbr /The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is threatening to increase tolls for northbound commercial vehicles crossing the Blue Water Bridge from US$1.75 per axle to US$3.25/axle. The proposed toll increase is not sitting well with the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) which is lobbying MDOT to reconsider.br /br /“OTA recognizes the need for infrastructure improvement at the Blue Water Bridge. However, a more incremental cost recovery system that allows for adequate pre-planning plan is a more palatable approach and would visit less disruption and hardship on all concerned than a one-time massive hit,” said OTA president David Bradley.br /br /The OTA acknowledged that toll increases have not increased at the Blue Water Bridge since 1997 and that the tolls collected on the Canadian side are higher than in the US. However, Bradley said “These facts are self-evident but timing and approach are all wrong. OTA considers it entirely unreasonable and inappropriate that an 85% price hike would be imposed in one fell swoop, with such short notice. Given the current economic times, and the stress that has already been imposed on Michigan-Ontario trade increases of this magnitude are untimely to say the least.”br /br /The OTA pointed out to the MDOT that over 80% of Michigan’s exports to Canada move by truck and that the increase could add US$8 million per year in transportation costs to the state’s exports. Read more a href=”http://www.trucknews.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000347748″here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(BWBC)/spanbr /span style=”font-size:85%;”/spanbr /August 6, 2009 meeting with Blue Water Bridge Canada, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ontario Provincial Police Blue Water Bridge Canada (BWBC) together with its partners U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) met today (Thursday, August 6th) in an effort to work together to help mitigate, as much as possible any delays and safety issues as it relates to traffic approaching the Blue Water Bridge. Due to Sarnia City Council’s decision not to grant a noise exemption to the Ministry of Transportation for night work, the Highway will at times be single lane to allow construction of the Highway 402 Phase One Improvements.br /br /“Blue Water Bridge Canada and the Michigan Department of Transportation are fortunate to have an excellent relationship with the local O.P.P., and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the local, regional and national level” states Stan Korosec Vice President of Operations for Blue Water Bridge Canada. “Today we came up with a plan to help mitigate the type of delays experienced on Tuesday August 4th due to the single lane of traffic.br /br /In addition to the constant communication that occurs daily between BWBC and CBP, new protocols were developed with respect to lane allocations and traffic management that we feel will help to ensure the safe and efficient flow of both cars and trucks at this vital trade link between Canada and the United States. Although these steps will assist in the safe and efficient flow of traffic, there will still be periods where extensive queues of traffic will exist.”