Fear of COVID-19 closed the border to non-essential travel a full year ago. Now that more Cascadia residents are getting vaccinations, when will they be able to start crossing again?
"The truth is: There is no plan," according to a recent CBC report on efforts to at least prepare for reopening.
Until the pandemic, the Canadian and U.S. parts of Cascadia were growing relentlessly more integrated, despite a two-decade struggle with border security in the wake of 9/11. For frequent travelers, the border was often seen as a mere formality.
By 2019 about 14 million people crossed and all the talk was about continued growth. That year saw the long-awaited start of seaplane flights between Lake Union and Coal Harbor. The main complaints were about too many users for the crowded water in Seattle. Harbor Air got slews of international headlines for pioneering fully-electric floatplanes.
Then the border closure halted flights, stopped the Victoria Clipper and Coho ferries, and slammed the border economies. Whatcom County lost 506,000 tourists in just a few months, according to a report by Western Washington University. There are similar stories from Whistler, Victoria, and elsewhere, even amid recent talk of B.C. sealing itself off from other provinces.
Despite criticism of how the closure has been handled to date, the assumption of huge pent-up demand for travel is widespread. Cascadia is bound to get more closely connected, with studies calling for high-speed rail between Seattle and Vancouver, along with plans to make conventional trains more competitive with driving or flying.
Back in 2007 Cascadia Report fretted about the impact of a closed border during the Olympics. That seems quaint by comparison.
Could the border start reopening as soon as May? That assumes vaccinations, flatter curves, and management of new strains. Plan on requirements for tests, vaccine documentation, and other red tape.