PRESCOTT, Ont. -- The opening of the recently modernized port of entry in Prescott, Ont., across the St. Lawrence from Ogdensburg, was celebrated Wednesday.

The project includes two commercial processing lanes, a new commercial building and a warehouse for processing and examining commercial shipments.

In addition, a fourth primary inspection lane and a new, bigger traveler building were added to enable Canada Border Services (CBSA) to provide better service.

The original facility in Prescott was built in 1960 and no longer met the CBSA’s needs, especially for the examination of commercial shipments, according to Chris Kealey, spokesman for CBSA. The old port of entry was completely replaced with modern commercial and traveler examination installations.

The cost of the project was pegged at $20 million Canadian.

Close to 275,000 vehicles and over 560,000 travelers a year are expected to enter Canada at this facility.

The new buildings, both roughly twice as large as the former buildings, and the additional processing lanes in both commercial and traveler streams, will provide for better service.

Prescott and its new port of entry are directly connected by bridge with Ogdensburg, and access to State Highway 37. Along with access to Highway 401, Prescott is also bordered by Highway 416, known as Veterans Memorial Highway. This makes Prescott well positioned for cultural and heritage tourism, and serves as a strategic location for big city business with access to eastern and western Canadian markets and New York State.

The facility offers fully bilingual services for commercial vessels, small vessels, commercial trucks, small airplanes, immigration facilitation, car, truck and bus clearances and low value personal goods and courier shipments.