CALAIS – The U.S. ambassador to Canada was late for a meeting Friday with the city’s bridge committee.

But David Wilkins had a good excuse: He had to return a phone call from Vice President Dick Cheney.

Wilkins has been ambassador for only about a month. He has met with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

But Friday marked his first visit to a border-crossing station.

During his visit, he toured the Ferry Point Bridge U.S. Customs House and met with members of the bridge committee. “I wanted to see the plans for the bridge and I wanted to see a border crossing,” he said “This is the first border crossing I’ve really looked at and studied.”

A smaller Milltown Bridge, located north of the downtown, also serves the city.

The ambassador said he was impressed with the Ferry Point Bridge. “The guys we got working border security are pros. They’re serious and they do a great job,” he said.

Then it was a short jaunt over to the Downeast Heritage Museum, where Wilkins met with city officials and members of the bridge committee.

For years, the bridge committee has lobbied state and federal officials to build a $100 million bridge that will connect Calais with neighboring St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Plans call for the bridge and

a new customs house to be built two miles north of downtown.

A federal highway-funding package containing partial funding to build the new bridge was passed by the U.S. House on Friday morning and was with the Senate later Friday.

“There’s every reason to anticipate that it’ll be sent to the president’s desk, if not [Friday], soon,” Wilkins said.

Calais has the eighth-busiest commercial crossing on the Canadian border and has seen truck traffic double over the past 10 years.

Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole said the bridge project also was high on the state’s priority list for funding. “This is a very persistent and aggressive group,” he said of the bridge committee. “But if you’re going to move mountains you need a persistent and aggressive group.”

Maine’s share of the cost is $15 million. That money will be for highway improvements to Route 1, a new industrial park access road, the new border station access road and half of the cost of the new bridge.

Federal funding will be responsible for 80 percent of the project’s costs, and the federal government will invest another $52 million in the new border station and upgrades to the Milltown and Ferry Point crossings.

On the New Brunswick side, the federal and provincial governments will be investing another $60 million for their half of the bridge and for construction of a new highway from Waweig to the new crossing.

St. Stephen Mayor Bob Brown then invited Ambassador Wilkins to attend the groundbreaking ceremony next spring.

“We want you to come back to cut the ribbon,” Brown said. “Maybe the president will do that where it’s the first international crossing [to be built in years].”

Wilkins said he would try to attend and given the opportunity he would extend the invitation to President Bush.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2008.