Canadian trade key to highway route

CARIBOU – How northern Maine trades with its Canadian neighbors may affect where a proposed north-south highway is built, according to planners involved in its study.

Economic developers, who already are working the Canadian connection, said Tuesday that the road is integral to establishing a trade relationship.

“We need a road,” said Alain Ouellette, director of Business Development for the Northern Maine Development Commission.

Ouellette and others spoke at the monthly session of the transportation study’s Public Advisory Committee, composed of municipal leaders from across Aroostook County.

The PAC members offer comments and suggestions to the engineering firm conducting the study on where a limited-access highway should be built. The Maine Department of Transportation is also involved in the study.

Ouellette is working with several economic development agencies throughout The County to bring business to northern Maine. Representatives in that effort, called OneAroostook, have been attending 30 to 35 trade shows over the past two years across the United States and Canada.

The most successful shows, where Ouellette said The County’s message has been best received, have been in Canada. The most recent trade show attended by OneAroostook was in Montreal.

“The fact that we were there … they found very impressive,” said Ouellette.

Canadian importers also are looking for products made in the United States, according to Ouellette. Such business keeps existing companies operating in northern Maine, he said.

Canada also offers accessible deep-water ports along the St. Lawrence Seaway that can aid in getting products to Europe.

“We think of having access to Europe only through Searsport,” said Ouellette. “But that’s not the case.”

Daniel LaPointe of Van Buren juxtaposed maps of Aroostook County and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick to illustrate the markets available to northern Maine businesses.

LaPointe is working with federal officials to make the Van Buren port of entry a commercial port. Commercial trade now can occur only with a permit for which an application must be approved weeks in advance.

“Now that we’ve agreed that we’re going to trade with Canada … that [commercial] port would help with that trade,” said LaPointe.

Jon Feinstein of Vanasse, Hangen Brustlin Inc., the Massachusetts firm conducting the study, said that the Canada trade issue and the Van Buren port of entry are “very important” regarding where the terminus of the new road could be.

“What Van Buren is doing is very important,” said Feinstein.