Construction of a new U.S. border crossing at Aldergrove into Lynden has been delayed at least six months, with completion now not expected until March of 2029, according to the agency in charge, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which has posted a revised schedule.
Work on a planned new U.S. border facility at Abbotsford into Sumas has also been moved back.
It comes after the Trump administration fired the project managers for the Kenneth G. Ward and Sumas Land Ports of Entry initiatives in March as part of sweeping budget cuts.
A report to the Whatcom Council of Governments, the regional authority, by director Hugh Conroy, said the GSA office in Auburn was "essentially shut down."
"The GSA employees there, were all terminated," Conroy said.
"This includes the project managers for the projects to replace the border inspection stations in Sumas and Lynden (and booth additions at the Pacific Highway border station)."
Management of the projects has been switched to the GSA office in Denver, Conroy reported.
Originally, the GSA set a tentative start date of September 2026 for Lyden, after the FIFA World Cup 2026, with "substantial completion" estimated in late Summer or early fall of 2028.
Now, work on Lynden is expected to begin in March of 2027, finishing in March of 2029, according to a posted GSA schedule.
Projected cost of the Lynden crossing, originally calculated at $90-$100 million U.S. has more than doubled, with an online GSA update raising the estimate to between $170 million and $208 million.
Sumas is expected to start construction in March of 2028, finishing in March of 2030.
Originally expected to cost $135-$155 million, Sumas is now projected to cost between $238 million and $291 million.
A GSA posted schedule indicated work on the Pacific Highway renovations was still set to begin this summer.
Built in 1986, the 16,421 sq-ft Kenneth G. Ward facility that serves traffic passing through Aldergrove to the U.S.“is no longer able to meet the operational needs of customs and border protection,” a previous GSA summary declared.
Currently, Kenneth G. Ward only has one lane for southbound commercial trucks, and four non-commercial lanes. That would become four lanes for commercial trucks and five for regular vehicles once the rebuild is complete.
Plans also call for widening the two-lane road on the U.S. side.
Legislation green lighting the work on the two U.S. crossings was signed into law in 2021 by then-president Joe Biden, after the U.S. congress approved the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that included $3.4 billion for GSA to upgrade 26 border crossings long overdue for modernization.
The Canadian border crossing just east of the Lynden facility has already been overhauled, with new buildings, two new commercial lanes and five travel lanes. Work was completed in 2020.
