The following is excerpted from the news release issued by Transport Canada; the news release in its entirety is found on the Transport Canada web site.
David L.
Emerson, Minister of Industry and co-Senior Minister Responsible for British Columbia, together with British Columbia Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, announced that a new extension of the Highway 15
NEXUS/FAST truck lane in Surrey will be built to ease congestion and enhance security at the Pacific Highway Border Crossing.
"More than a million commercial vehicles cross the border into the
United States each year," said Minister Emerson. "Extending the NEXUS/FAST truck lane will help ease congestion and encourage more commercial vehicles to enroll in the program."
The
construction of this $2.6-million project is expected to begin in the summer of 2005 and be completed the following spring. The Government of Canada will contribute $1.05 million while the Government of
British Columbia will contribute $1.55 million to the project.
The highway extension includes construction of a third southbound lane on Highway 15 that extends from just south of 4th Avenue to 8th
Avenue. The extension of the NEXUS/FAST truck lane will reduce traffic delays, resulting in increased overall trade opportunities and competitiveness of the British Columbia trucking industry.
The
Pacific Highway crossing is the fourth busiest commercial vehicle crossing along the Canada/United States border. It handles 75 per cent of commercial traffic in the Lower Mainland.
As traffic delays
and truck line-ups decrease at the border, air pollution and ambient noise levels will also decrease. The additional southbound lane will also improve access for security personnel and emergency vehicles in
the event of a security incident, enhancing the overall security at the border.
|
