Lane widening finished at the south end of the International Bridge

SooToday.com

September 02, 2011

 

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – Customs and Border Protection is joining with the International Bridge Administration and GSA to announce that work to widen the pavement between the south end of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge and the CBP primary inspection booths has been completed.

“This project has already provided improved efficiency in the flow of traffic,” stated Devin Chamberlain, CBP Port director. “Commercial trucks are taking advantage of the additional space in the lower queue, providing room for passenger vehicles on the upper plaza.”

The goal of this $1,087,695 (USD) project, federally funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was to mitigate the “bottleneck” created when southbound trucks prevent southbound passenger vehicles from accessing the CBP inspection booths.

This has been accomplished by widening the pavement between the end of the bridge and the inspection booths, allowing more space for trucks awaiting inspection.

“This project will improve bridge customer safety and bridge traffic efficiency by getting trucks off the bridge and onto separate queuing lanes,” stated Phil Becker, the manager of the International Bridge Administration, the public agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of the bridge structure. “The truck ‘bottleneck’ was, by far, the biggest concern we heard from our customers.”

The contracting agency was the U.S. General Services Administration.

A “design-build” contracting process was used to expedite the project.

The lead contractor was Industrial Maintenance Services, Inc. from Wells, Michigan.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for  the management, control, and protection of our Nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry.

CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.