The Blackpool Border Crossing is the name for a land border crossing between the United States and Canada, commonly known as the International Boundary.
It connects Champlain, New York and St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec and is the terminus of Interstate 87 in the U.S. and Autoroute 15 in Canada. It is the major crossing on the Montreal-New York City corridor.
On the Canadian side it is locally known as the Lacolle border crossing and on the American side it is referred to as the Champlain border crossing.
The Blackpool Border Crossing is one of the largest ports of entry along the International Boundary. It is the sixth-busiest commercial crossing on the United States-Canada border, accounting for approximately 735,000 commercial vehicle crossings per year and approximately 2,000 commercial vehicle crossings per day.[1] It has the distinction of being the only major border crossing on the eastern part of the International Boundary that does not involve crossing a body of water.[2] This, coupled with the relative remoteness of the crossing, has allowed for the expansion of buildings and facilities on both sides of the border in recent years.
The crossing gained notoriety in 2007 when a United States Customs and Border Protection officer allowed Andrew Speaker to cross into the U.S. from Canada, knowing that the man had a rare and dangerous case of tuberculosis, and was being sought by the authorities.[3]