CANAMEX Corridor

The CANAMEX corridor is a corridor linking Canada to Mexico through the United States. The corridor was established under the North American Free Trade Agreement.^[1] Currently the corridor is defined by a series of highways. However the corridor is also proposed for use by railroads, pipelines and fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure.^[1]

States, Provinces part of the CANAMEX Corridor

Canada

• Alberta - Highway 43, Highway 16, Highway 216, Highway 2, Highway 3, Highway 4

Highway 43 continues from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where it links with the Alaska Highway. Highway 4 continues as Interstate 15 across the USA-Canada border.

United States

• Montana - Interstate 15
• Idaho - Interstate 15
• Utah - Interstate 15
• Nevada - Interstate 15, Interstate 515, U.S. Route 93
• Arizona - U.S. Route 93 , Interstate 10, Interstate 19. To make the highway drivable as a continuous route also requires the inclusion of Interstate 15, U.S. Route 60 and State Route 189, though they are not officially included.^[2]

Mexico

• Sonora- Mexico Federal Highway 15

Highway

The United States portion of the highway was established as a High Priority Corridor. The treaty establishes that the CANAMEX highway will be upgraded to at least 4 lanes along its entire length. Currently 84% of the highway in the United States is compliant, 86% of the highway in Mexico is compliant.^[3] The Canada portion was completed in 2007.

Current infrastructure improvements to upgrade the non-compliant portions include the Hoover Dam Bypass along U.S. Route 93, improvements to I-15 near Great Falls and new freeway connections in Phoenix.^[4]

Railroad

NAFTA also established the CANAMEX corridor for rail usage. The Union Pacific Railroad already owns and operates rail lines paralleling Interstate 15 between Las Vegas, Nevada and Canada as well as a rail line between Phoenix, Arizona and Mexico, loosely following the corridor. However there is no existing railroad directly connecting Las Vegas and Phoenix, rail traffic from these cities currently must detour through Barstow, California.

Legislative issues

There are two discrepancies in the US definition of the CANAMEX corridor that have not yet been resolved. The first is a technicality, which states the Nevada portion of the CANAMEX corridor shall follow Interstate 15 to Utah.^[5] However, I-15 does not pass directly from Nevada to Utah. Interstate 15 in Arizona was omitted; but necessary for continuity. The rail line to be used by CANAMEX runs to the northwest of I-15. It does directly enter Utah from Nevada without entering Arizona. The connection is made between Beryl, Utah and Pioche, Nevada.

The second issue is a gap near Phoenix, Arizona. The official designation in Arizona is Interstate 10 to U.S. Route 93 at Phoenix. However, US 93 does not enter Phoenix or connect with I-10. US 93 currently terminates at Wickenburg northwest of Phoenix. To make this connection currently requires driving U.S. Route 60, a surface street through the western suburbs of Phoenix not compliant with the standards established by the treaty.

This, along with Hoover Dam, were identified as bottlenecks in the corridor. Studies commenced to propose workarounds. The Hoover Dam Bypass opened in December 2010.^[6] Studies to resolve the Phoenix gap resulted in a proposal to create a compliant connection between Wickenburg and Phoenix that will involve an upgrade and extension to Arizona State Route 303.^[3]

See also

• Pan-American Highway
• CanAm Highway

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "CANAMEX Corridor". Canamex Coalition. http://www.canamex.org/index.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
2. ^ "Federal Definition". Canamex coalition. http://www.canamex.org/fed_def.asp. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "CANAMEX statistics". http://www.canamex.org/statistics.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
4. ^ Andy Field and Alex Nitzman. "CANAMEX (High Priority Corridor 26)". AARoads. http://www.aaroads.com/high-priority/corr26.html. 
5. ^ "What is CANAMEX?". CANAMEX coalition. http://www.canamex.org/fed_def.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
6. ^ Illia, Tony; Cho, Aileen (7 December 2009). "Buffeted by High Winds and Setbacks, a Bypass Is Making History Near Hoover Dam". Engineering News-Record (New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies) 263 (18): 18. ISSN 0891-9526/92. http://enr.ecnext.com/coms2/article_intr091202HooverDam-1. "(The crossing) is scheduled to open in November 2010." 

External links

• CANAMEX Corridor website