Cascade Gateway Circulation Analysis
This study assessed the need for and benefits of improvements to an east-west routes that serve forecast travel around and across the border in this region; identified the most effective ways to optimize the Cascade Gateway cross-border transportation system; and developed a preliminary plan, cost-estimate, and timeline for subsequent improvements.
The Cascade Gateway is the set of four land-border ports-of-entry (POEs) that connect Western Washington State and Lower Mainland British Columbia. In addition to serving local travel and trade in this binational region, the major highway routes that transit the Cascade Gateway include U.S. Interstate 5, B.C. Highway 99, and the TransCanada 1 highway.
The Cascade Gateway region is growing and developing quickly. Regional travel, cross-border travel, and cross-border truck-borne trade combine and result in frequent congestion of border crossings and the roads that serve them.
The road network that serves the Cascade Gateway is much more a north-south system than an east-west system. Current conditions motivated interest in studying the benefits of improving east-west connections:
- Advances in real-time traveler and commercial-driver information enable drivers to respond to varying border-crossing times and corridor travel-times.
- More complete deployment of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), for both travelers and commercial vehicles, will be an important component of improving Cascade Gateway circulation.
- Border inspection agency operational changes are affecting the way travelers and commercial-drivers choose cross-border routes.
- In the face of quickening development, it is important to identify the most logical east-west routes and, if improvement is not required today, identify actions to preserve right-of-way for future demand.
Participating Agencies
This project was identified and endorsed by the International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project (IMTC). It was also called out as one of four priorities listed on the WA Governor and BC Premier’s Transportation Protocol Agreement of June, 2006.
A project steering committee was comprised of the agencies most responsible for and affected by the performance of the systems under evaluation, including WA State Department of Transportation and B.C. Ministry of Transportation. The project was managed by the Whatcom Council of Governments (WCOG)—the lead agency of IMTC.
Deliverables
The work plan (available in the resources section of this page) defines how the analysis proceeded and deliverables resulting from the study. In Phase I, project participants completed a series of interviews with stakeholders which resulted in a multi-jurisdictional portrayal of current, near-term, and long-term improvement objectives for the transportation system at and connecting the border crossings. A summary of these interviews and a map of desired improvement locations are included in the resources linked at the right.
A systems definition report is also available which defines the geographic, temporal, and modal scopes of the proejct.
Passenger and freight vehicle intercept survey data was used to model and assign cross-border traffic to the regional cross-border road network. This analysus was used, in combination with stakeholder input and previously-identified geographic coverage boundaries, to develop a priority road network for ongoing focus. This is also available in the resources.
The next steps include modeling changes referred to on the project map, as well as scenarios suggested by stakeholders, to develop an initial list of recommended steps to improve east-west connectivity.