Ontario Border Improvements - Sarnia

The Blue Water Bridge crossing is located between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan (Highway 402 at Sarnia-Point Edward).

The Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia is Canada's second busiest crossing for commercial traffic, with over 4,900 trucks per day with a daily commodity value of $162 million.

Owner/Operator:
Canada - owned and operated by the Blue Water Bridge Authority.
US - owned and operated by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

FAST/NEXUS: Both programs are available at the Blue Water Bridge crossing.

Improvements

On May 6, 2004, a $115 million investment was announced under BIF for the Blue Water Bridge crossing in Sarnia-Point Edward, with a commitment of $56.5 million by Ontario, $57.5 million by Canada, and $1 million by the Village of Point Edward. The improvement projects include:

• Reconstructing Highway 402 from Lambton Road 26 to Highway 21 under two contracts:
  • Construction of the first contract, from Lambton Road 30 to Highway 21, was completed in Fall 2005.
  • Construction of the second contract, from Lambton Road 26 to Lambton Road 30, is expected to begin in late Summer 2006 and to be completed Fall 2008.
  
  
• A Queue-End Warning System on Highway 402 approaching the Blue Water Bridge is currently under construction and expected to be fully operational in Summer 2006. The system will monitor vehicle speed and will automatically update queue-end warning signs for drivers and alert the Ontario Ministry of Transportation Communications Centre.
  
  
• Design is nearing completion for the widening of Highway 401 to six lanes between Wellington Road and Highway 402 in London. This section, which supports both the Sarnia-Point Edward and Windsor border crossings. Construction is expected to begin in 2006; subject to property and environmental clearances.
  
  
• The ministry has published a Transportation Environmental Study Report (TESR) for the planning, preliminary design and environmental assessment study on Highway 402 through Sarnia/Point Edward to improve safety and manage truck queues. The TESR documents the study recommendations including widening westbound Highway 402 to 4 lanes and separating trucks and cars into designated lanes with painted buffers.
  
  
• Relocation of municipal roads related to safety of the bridge infrastructure.

In addition, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Blue Water Bridge Authority (BWBA) have partnered to construct improvements for Canada-bound traffic. Construction of these improvements, which includes a new truck ramp from Canada Customs directly to Highway 402, is underway with completion expected late 2006.