150px, "NASCO project logo depicting the three associated countries' flag iconography as a singular element." The North America's Corridor Coalition (NASCO) is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop an international multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, which it claims will improve trade competitiveness and quality of life in North America.

Scope

NASCO's scope encompasses

Interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

I-29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba ...

, and I-94 and the significant connectors to those highways in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Certain commentators and politicians have referred to I-35 as the "

NAFTA superhighway The NAFTA superhighway is a term sometimes used informally to refer to certain existing and proposed highways intended to link Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Although the term has not been used publicly by governments in an official policy ...

". Some of the beliefs associated with this appellation have been characterized by opponents as a conspiracy theory to undermine U.S. sovereignty.

Border crossings

The project includes the largest border crossing in North America – the

Ambassador Bridge The Ambassador Bridge is a tolled international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, it is the busiest international border crossing in North ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

– and one of the largest inland ports,

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of ...

and

Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...

, the ports of

Manzanillo, Colima Manzanillo () is a city and seat of Manzanillo Municipality, in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port, responsible for handling Pacific cargo for the Mexico City area. It is the large ...

and

Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán Lázaro Cárdenas () is a port city in Michoacán bordered to the east by Guerrero. Lázaro Cárdenas is located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to ...

. It runs as far north as

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

and

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Affiliations

NASCO now includes the former North American International Trade Corridor Partnership, a nonprofit organization in

. Membership includes public and private sector entities along the corridor in all three participating countries. In the past, the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway syst ...

, which once proposed building the

Trans-Texas Corridor The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) was a proposal for a transportation network in the U.S. State of Texas that was conceived to be composed of a new kind of transportation modality known as supercorridors. The TTC was initially proposed in 2001 and ...

, was a NASCO member, but has not been for the last few years.

Funding

NASCO has received $2.5 million in earmarks from the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States an ...

for the development of a technology and tracking tools. NASCO states that the deployment of a modern information system will reduce cost, improve efficiency, reduce trade-related congestion, and enhance security of cross-border and intra-corridor trade and traffic.

References

External links