CALAIS – The last federal hurdle has been cleared for construction to begin on the new bridge and international border crossing in Calais after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for the project Friday.

State and federal permitting and review agencies have been working on the project for six years, although actual coordination with area communities goes back to 1997.

“This is excellent news for Washington County,” Gov. John Baldacci said in a press release.

“A modern and efficient border crossing will be a major new asset for Maine’s east-west transportation corridor and the regional economy on both sides of the border.”

The Maine Department of Transportation’s next step will be to advertise for bids to build the bridge over the St. Croix River to connect Calais and St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

The bridge will provide a third border crossing that will make traffic passage more efficient between the countries.

The Calais-St. Stephen crossings already are the eighth busiest along the entire 4,000-mile U.S.-Canadian border, with more than 14,000 cars and 800 trucks crossing the two bridges on a typical summer day.

The project was recently listed as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s No. 1 priority for the nation.

Construction is not likely to start before much later in the fall, following bid advertisements and evaluations and the awarding of contracts, DOT spokesman Jim Thompson said Friday.

Work should continue until 2008 for the new bridge and all connected highway portions. The project includes a new roundabout connection with U.S. Route 1 and a new access road into the Calais Industrial Park about two miles north of downtown.

The economic impact for the entire project is estimated at about $120 million between the U.S. and Canadian sides over the next three years.

The cost for the bridge itself, a $10 million investment, will be divided on a 50-50 basis between Maine and New Brunswick. Roadway improvements in the Calais Industrial Park and Route 1 in Calais will total another $11 million.

The new border station, to be constructed by the U.S. General Services Administration, will be laid out on 50 acres and is estimated to cost more than $40 million.

Once completed, as many as 50 new federal positions will be needed to staff the new U.S. border facility.

“This is more than just a new border crossing,” Maine Commissioner of Transportation David Cole said Friday. “It’s the lynchpin in the transportation corridor between Maine and the [Canadian] Maritimes. It’s an economic positive for Calais, Washington County and the whole region.

“This project represents more money than we spent on the entire upgrade of Route 9.”

The Corps of Engineers permit was the last in a series of state and federal approvals for the DOT. This one follows water quality certification from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection; a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard for the bridge; and a presidential permit issued by the U.S. State Department that authorizes the new border crossing.

The Corps of Engineers permit allows the DOT to fill below the ordinary high water line of numerous streams and in adjacent freshwater wetlands near Calais in order to construct the new border crossing within the city’s industrial park.

The project involves new roadway and bridge construction as well as overlay and widening of existing roadways. It is split into six main components:

. Overlay and widening of a 0.69-mile section of Route 1.

. Construction of a 1,902-foot-long industrial park access road.

. Construction of an 820-foot-long connector from the new industrial park access road to Whitlock Lane within the industrial park.

. Construction of an 1,138-foot-long connector road from Route 1 to the new border station.

. Construction of the new border station.

. Construction of the new bridge itself.

The project will affect approximately 6.8 acres of wetlands and streambed, according to the Corps of Engineers.

In making its decision, the Corps reviewed an alternative that would have placed the bridge and border crossing facility in Baileyville. That alternative would have affected up to 11.8 acres of wetlands and streambed.

The Corps sought public comment through May 5 to help determine which alternative presented the most practical environmental approach.

The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps of Engineers in compliance with the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge or fill of material in U.S. waters, including wetlands.

An opposition group, the Friends of the Magurrewock, has been active in the area for the last two years. Its members believe Baileyville would be a better location than Calais for the new bridge.

They are concerned that the eagles nesting in the nearby Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge will be disturbed because the road to the new bridge will pass through the refuge.

The Magurrewock wetlands of the Moosehorn refuge lie on either side of Route 1.

Bill Szirbik has been the spokesman for the group.

“They [the DOT] are siting the bridge at a location where it does not belong,” Szirbik said Friday. “We have proven this to them with two years of correspondence. We have shown them everything humanly possible, and they are leaving us with nothing but to take this into the court system.”

The Friends will work with an environmental lawyer to file a lawsuit against the project in federal court, Szirbik said.

“Our group has been meeting once a month for almost two years,” he said. “We will continue our meetings because this is just the beginning.”

Two border crossings already serve Calais and St. Stephen with bridges at Ferry Point, downtown and Milltown.

The Ferry Point Bridge routes traffic through downtown Calais and St. Stephen. The Milltown Bridge, located just north of the Calais downtown, is used mainly by local traffic.