Vermont is set to see roughly $200 million from a multibillion-dollar federal initiative to revamp five major land ports between Vermont and Canada, White House and General Services Administration officials announced Friday.
As part of Congress’s Infrastructure Package, the federal government is pouring $3.4 billion into modernization construction projects for 26 land ports on the country’s northern and southern borders in hopes of easing traffic buildup at border crossings and speeding up trade. Five of those ports are in Vermont.
Officials said more than $150 million will go toward modernizing Vermont’s Highgate Springs Land Port of Entry — the busiest port of entry in the state, and among the busiest in New England, serving as a major connector between the Montreal and Boston metros.
Another $50 million will go toward border crossings at Alburg Springs, Beebe Plain, Norton and Richford.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as chair of the Senate’s influential Appropriations Committee, was instrumental in negotiating the federal infrastructure package and Vermont’s funding.
Leahy included another $85 million for Highgate Springs in his committee’s omnibus appropriations bill, which is currently in final bipartisan negotiations, according to senator spokesperson David Carle.
In 2019, Highgate Springs saw nearly 580,000 vehicle crossings, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Leahy said in a statement that Vermont’s Canadian border “is a tremendous asset, and one that has helped shape the history and culture of our state.”
“Vermonters regularly cross the border to visit family and neighbors, go shopping, or travel to Montreal or Quebec City. The economies of communities on both sides of the border are intertwined,” he said. “The process for crossing the border has changed in the last 20 years. Yet some of the ports have seen few upgrades since they were constructed more than 80 years ago.”
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. also voiced his support for the infrastructure package’s port funding, calling U.S.-Canadian relations “crucial to Vermonters and our small businesses.”
“Throughout the pandemic border closure, many Vermonters struggled to do business over the border and visit with family and friends in Canada,” Welch said. “Now that the border is open again, we need to ensure it runs efficiently for Vermonters traveling to Canada by car, for our businesses sending and receiving goods across the border, and for Canadian tourists visiting our state.”
