Study backs increased border port hours

Study backs increased border port hours

Tim Leeds, [email protected]

A study released by the Montana Department of Transportation backs a hot topic in north-central Montana: the need to increase hours at border ports between Montana and Canada.

MDT released "Impact of Canadian Economic Development on Northern Montana Highways" in July. Its findings included two recommendations: tracking the need for highway improvements to routes connecting roadways to the ports of entry between Montana and Canada, and expanding port operations of one or two ports to 18- to 24-hour-a-day operations.

The study looked at the ports between the Port of Sweet Grass north of Shelby and the Port of Raymond north of Plentywood, the only 24-hour ports between Montana and Canada.

Its recommendation falls short of a recommendation of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The MDT cites a 2008 report from that body, which recommends converting all non-24-hour border crossings to 24-hour facilities.

Expanding port hours has been a hot topic in the region.

Two groups are pushing for expanding hours to 24-hour commercial operations, one group for the Port of Wild Horse north of Havre and the other group for the Port of Turner north of Harlem. Members of both groups brought their issues before U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano during her meeting in Havre last week.

The groups also met this week in Havre to plan what they will do to push their agendas.

Napolitano dropped a bombshell in Havre Aug. 25, saying if a workable plan can be drafted by the Montana supporters of expanding the hours of Wild Horse, her department would be "very open to just making it into, converting it into, a 24-7 port" over the next 12 to 18 months.

Alan Bersin, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced during the meeting in Havre that a trial extension of the number of months the summer hours will be used at Wild Horse would be resumed.

The port, which allows commercial traffic by permit only, normally is open 8 a.m to 9 p.m. from May 15 to Sept. 30, with winter hours the rest of the year 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The extension will have the summer hours operate through Oct. 31 this year, and from March 1 to Oct. 31 next year.

The two groups, each working to expand the status of their own ports, agreed during Wednesday's meeting to present a united, regional front to try to get the ports of Wild Horse and Turner expanded based on the economic benefits, while each group would continue with its own efforts as well.

The MDT report — 273 pages long, including table of contents and appendices — concludes that the growth of the gross domestic products of Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan will continue, especially if recovery from the recession that started in 2008 continues.

According to the report, the value of U.S. imports from Canada across the Montana border in 2008 was $16.6 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 13.9 percent since 1995. Of that, 33 percent was transported by truck, while 62 percent was petroleum products carried by pipeline.

Truck imports across the Montana border increased from $1.7 billion in 1995 to $5.4 billion in 2008, the report says.

While the recession and drop in oil prices have cut the increase in traffic, the forecast is for a jump to $5.8 billion in 2020, an annual increase of 1.4 percent compared to 2008. The report says the forecast is for an increase in freight transported across Montana ports of 565,300 tons over the next 20 years.

The total traffic at the Montana ports is expected to grow 2 percent annually.

The traffic now flows mostly through Sweet Grass and Raymond, with the port north of Shelby — a 24-hour commercial port and the only one served by an interstate highway — seeing more than 80 percent of crossings in the study area. Of that traffic, 31 percent in the study period was commercial trucks.

The Port of Raymond is the second-most heavily used, seeing 9 percent of the border crossings in the study area and 13 percent of the traffic in 2007 from commercial trucks.

Wild Horse is the third-most used crossing in the study area, seeing 4 percent of the crossings between Montana and Canada, the study says. Of those crossings, 7 percent are commercial trucks, which must obtain a permit to cross at Wild Horse.

The report's findings are using the current hours at the ports, and also reflect that an increase in oil prices — both Alberta and Saskatchewan have very active petroleum extraction industries — could lead to stronger growth.

The report recommends that, along with tracking future highway needs as traffic on connections to ports increases, expanding operations of one to two ports between Sweet Grass and Raymond, "to facilitate regional connectivity and economic opportunities."

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On the Net: MDT Canadian-Montana trade report: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/research/projects/mcs/canada_impact_nhwy.shtml

A study released by the Montana Department of Transportation backs a hot topic in north-central Montana: the need to increase hours at border ports between Montana and Canada.

MDT released "Impact of Canadian Economic Development on Northern Montana Highways" in July. Its findings included two recommendations: tracking the need for highway improvements to routes connecting roadways to the ports of entry between Montana and Canada, and expanding port operations of one or two ports to 18- to 24-hour-a-day operations.

The study looked at the ports between the Port of Sweet Grass north of Shelby and the Port of Raymond north of Plentywood, the only 24-hour ports between Montana and Canada.

Its recommendation falls short of a recommendation of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The MDT cites a 2008 report from that body, which recommends converting all non-24-hour border crossings to 24-hour facilities.

Expanding port hours has been a hot topic in the region.

Two groups are pushing for expanding hours to 24-hour commercial operations, one group for the Port of Wild Horse north of Havre and the other group for the Port of Turner north of Harlem. Members of both groups brought their issues before U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano during her meeting in Havre last week.

The groups also met this week in Havre to plan what they will do to push their agendas.

Napolitano dropped a bombshell in Havre Aug. 25, saying if a workable plan can be drafted by the Montana supporters of expanding the hours of Wild Horse, her department would be "very open to just making it into, converting it into, a 24-7 port" over the next 12 to 18 months.

Alan Bersin, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced during the meeting in Havre that a trial extension of the number of months the summer hours will be used at Wild Horse would be resumed.

The port, which allows commercial traffic by permit only, normally is open 8 a.m to 9 p.m. from May 15 to Sept. 30, with winter hours the rest of the year 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The extension will have the summer hours operate through Oct. 31 this year, and from March 1 to Oct. 31 next year.

The two groups, each working to expand the status of their own ports, agreed during Wednesday's meeting to present a united, regional front to try to get the ports of Wild Horse and Turner expanded based on the economic benefits, while each group would continue with its own efforts as well.

The MDT report — 273 pages long, including table of contents and appendices — concludes that the growth of the gross domestic products of Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan will continue, especially if recovery from the recession that started in 2008 continues.

According to the report, the value of U.S. imports from Canada across the Montana border in 2008 was $16.6 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 13.9 percent since 1995. Of that, 33 percent was transported by truck, while 62 percent was petroleum products carried by pipeline.

Truck imports across the Montana border increased from $1.7 billion in 1995 to $5.4 billion in 2008, the report says.

While the recession and drop in oil prices have cut the increase in traffic, the forecast is for a jump to $5.8 billion in 2020, an annual increase of 1.4 percent compared to 2008. The report says the forecast is for an increase in freight transported across Montana ports of 565,300 tons over the next 20 years.

The total traffic at the Montana ports is expected to grow 2 percent annually.

The traffic now flows mostly through Sweet Grass and Raymond, with the port north of Shelby — a 24-hour commercial port and the only one served by an interstate highway — seeing more than 80 percent of crossings in the study area. Of that traffic, 31 percent in the study period was commercial trucks.

The Port of Raymond is the second-most heavily used, seeing 9 percent of the border crossings in the study area and 13 percent of the traffic in 2007 from commercial trucks.

Wild Horse is the third-most used crossing in the study area, seeing 4 percent of the crossings between Montana and Canada, the study says. Of those crossings, 7 percent are commercial trucks, which must obtain a permit to cross at Wild Horse.

The report's findings are using the current hours at the ports, and also reflect that an increase in oil prices — both Alberta and Saskatchewan have very active petroleum extraction industries — could lead to stronger growth.

The report recommends that, along with tracking future highway needs as traffic on connections to ports increases, expanding operations of one to two ports between Sweet Grass and Raymond, "to facilitate regional connectivity and economic opportunities."

———

On the Net: MDT Canadian-Montana trade report: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/research/projects/mcs/canada_impact_nhwy.shtml