CALAIS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued its public notice and is seeking comments on the proposed construction of a third bridge near the city’s Industrial Park on Route 1.

The Corps has received a permit application from the state to conduct work in the water area of the project that includes the St. Croix River. The river is a boundary marker between Calais and neighboring St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

The Corps is soliciting comments on the project and the range of issues to be addressed in the environment documentation.

The comment period ends May 5.

“The basic project purpose is to provide a border crossing facility that will safely and efficiently allow the movement of traffic, goods and services in the Calais and St. Stephen, N.B., area,” the Corps said in its public notice issued Tuesday. The project involves new roadway and bridge construction as well as overlay and widening of existing roadways.

The new border crossing facility would be constructed and operated by the General Services Administration. The proposed design will affect about 6.8 acres of wetlands and streambed.

The application has identified the proposed alternative as Alternative 3 and this is their “preferred alternative,” the Corps said. In addition to the no-build alternative, the Corps is also reviewing Alternative 2A.

Alternative 2A includes the “construction of a 1.1-mile-long connector road, a similar bridge over the St. Croix River, and a similar GSA constructed and operated border crossing facility. It would connect to Route 1 near its intersection with Route 9 at Baileyville,” the public notice said. It is estimated that Alternative 2A would affect up to 11.8 acres of wetland and streambed.

Two bridges connect Calais with neighboring St. Stephen downtown Ferry Point Bridge and the Milltown Bridge, near the city’s Industrial Park.

Construction on the $50 million project is expected to begin this summer in the United States. Canada also will spend up to $50 million on the project. Canada already has made major strides in its portion of the project.

A new two-lane limited access road from the bridge will cross through the Calais Industrial Park to connect with U.S. Route 1. Provision also will be made for a possible visitor information center.

The International Boundary Commission has reviewed and approved the plan with conditions. Among the conditions: No international boundary monuments shall be damaged, disturbed or endangered by the work, and no additional objects or structures shall be placed within 10 feet of the international boundary line.

Several agencies have signed on to the project. The project remains listed as the Department of Homeland Security’s Number 1 border priority for the entire nation.

A group called Friends of Magurrewock who are concerned about the impact the new bridge would have on the neighboring Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, are pressing the Corps and the state to move the project to Baileyville.

The Corps is seeking comments to help determine which of these alternatives is the least environmentally damaging, the public notice said.

Send comments to jay.I.clement@usace.army.mil. Include the projects file number: NAE-2006-704.