Seaway hopes for modest growth
Four-year, $100-million project wrapping up
Shipping season on the Welland Canal is set to begin March 20, marking the completion of recent upgrades to the waterway.
St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. spokesman Andrew Bogora said the late winter canal opening will mark the completion of a four-year, $100-million project to rebuild tie-up walls along the canal.
“I believe the work this winter is the final leg of that four-year journey,” he said.
Work on the canal wall is most obvious near locks 2, 3 and 4, particularly along the Welland Canals Parkway Trail near the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre.
“If you walk along that path you will be walking on a brand new wall that has been constructed,” Bogora said.
He said security issues have also been addressed along the waterway. New fencing will keep people away from the water’s edge in several locations.
Bogora said the fencing results from heightened federal government security requirements put in place over the past 16 years, following the terrorist attacks on New York.
“We are subject to Transport Canada marine security rules and regulations, and those regulations, of course, were impacted by 9/11,” he said.
“The regulations became quite a bit stricter in terms of access to different transportation systems including the Welland Canal. Consequently, you’re looking at changes that have been put in place over the last few years to bring us into full compliance with these new rules.”
Bogora said the canal’s opening date is at about the same time it normally opens. The mild winter hasn’t resulted in an earlier start to the shipping season.
He said the March 20 date is “pretty much to rule of thumb in the last 20 years.”
Bogora said the seaway authority is hoping for modest growth in the amount of cargo being shipped through the waterway this year.
Those hopes are based on a “buoyant economy” in the U.S. and Canada, as well as a productive agricultural season last summer.
“We do have good expectations for grain shipments at the beginning of the year, given that the harvest last year was quite a healthy harvest and a fair amount of inventory was held over. That is where, as we begin the new year, we’re hoping to see some good momentum from the very outset.” ABenner@postmedia.com Twitter: @abenner1