Canada going ahead with plans for new bridge; MCA supports project

The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited announced this week that they’ll be moving ahead with plans to build a low-level bridge over the St. Lawrence River connecting the city of Cornwall to the island of Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island). The current 48-year-old high-level bridge will eventually be demolished.

The project had been on hold while the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Canada Border Services Agency have yet to resolve the bridge and border issue that began in May of 2009 and resulted in a temporary Customs port being constructed at the northern foot of the current bridge, in the city of Cornwall.

MCA said they were happy with the announcement and they fully support the project.

“We are very happy that the bridge construction will commence,” said Grand Chief Mike Mitchell. “We will do everything we can to insure that this project is successful. We are aware that Akwesasne’s skilled construction workers and high steel workers will be required all the way through the construction and dismantling phases of this project.”

Mitchell said that there are still many other issues regarding the border crossing that remain unresolved but he is confident that they can be addressed separately from the bridge construction project.

“The MCA and the Akwesasne community have been waiting for good news like this for quite awhile,” he said. “This construction project will provide hundreds of jobs for our skilled trades people and workforce and will be a boost to our economy. We look forward to its commencement.”

Mitchell said that an announcement from Canada regarding the fate of the CBSA port is expected at the end of August. Canada and CBSA are considering four options: to move back to their facility on Kawehno:ke (their least likely option, an official said), build a permanent facility in Cornwall, build a Customs facility on the U.S. side adjacent to the U.S. port, or to close the border crossing altogether.

The $75 million bridge project is expected to be completed by 2016, with the new bridge being open to traffic even earlier. The new short, flat bridge will connect to the southern end of Brookdale Avenue in Cornwall.

When the current bridge was constructed in the 1960s, Canada required that the channel be able to accommodate large ships passing through the Seaway in case there was ever a need for an all-Canada water transportation route. Currently, ships pass through the channel on the southern side of the island, partially in U.S. waters. Canada has since determined that there is no present need for two high-level bridges at the port and the suspension bridge on the southern span remains suitable for both vehicle and water traffic.