Mass. firm wins border contract Company to build Calais crossing

CALAIS – A Massachusetts construction company has won a $48.3 million contract to build a new border crossing in Calais.

The General Services Administration said Thursday that J.J. Contractors Inc. of Lowell, Mass., will build the Land Port of Entry for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.

“Our vision is a facility that embodies the spirit of the United States as welcoming and secure, now and in the future,” said Dennis Smith, regional GSA administrator.

Work is due to begin in February on the project, which will help reduce traffic congestion at two existing border crossings between Calais and St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

A Calais city official said Thursday that he knew the announcement was coming soon.

“I didn’t know it was going to happen today, but we’re happy to see the project moving forward,” Assistant City Manager Jim Porter said. “Of course, it’s been delayed several times, but we’re pleased to see progress nonetheless.”

Porter said he didn’t know much about J.J. Contractors and didn’t think the city had worked with it in the past. He also didn’t know how many other companies had put in bids or if any were from Maine.

As for the timeline for completion, Porter said that would be up to the contractor.

“We’ll work closely with them to make sure things go smoothly,” he said.

The goal is to divert commercial traffic to the new crossing, which will be better equipped for screening and inspecting trucks. Neither of the existing crossings had enough space to accommodate a modern, commercial crossing.

“The design of the new Calais Land Port of Entry will increase border security while easing the free flow of goods and people,” Smith said.

The new border crossing should relieve congestion at the Ferry Point Bridge, which crosses the St. Croix River and links the downtown districts of Calais and St. Stephen. There’s a lesser-used checkpoint a mile upriver at the Milltown Bridge.

With more than 14,000 cars and 800 trucks crossing the two bridges on a typical summer day, the crossings are the eighth busiest along the 4,000-mile northern border.

The project, which is slated to open near the Calais Industrial Park in two years, has an overall price tag of more than $120 million, to be shared by the United States and Canada.

“This contract is a positive step forward in efforts to complete and make fully operational a third bridge in Calais,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a prepared statement. “I have long supported the third Calais bridge because it is crucial to help ease congestion at the border crossing and improve traffic flow.”

BDN staff writer Eric Russell contributed to this report.