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<\/p>\nFor generations, it has been a symbol of the close relationship between residents of Warner County, on the Canadian side of the border, and their friends and relatives in Toole County, on the American side.<\/p>\n
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Officially located in Montana, Border Road<\/a>, which parallels the international border, also provides farmers, ranchers and others in Alberta with an easy way to access their properties, rather than make the 15-minute drive it takes to get to the official border crossing at Coutts and Sweetgrass.<\/p>\n But starting next July that\u2019s going to change, and area residents will need to cross the border just like everyone else.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tBorder Road is a 15 kilometre stretch of road in Montana that runs parallel to the Canada-U.S. border and is commonly used by area residents from both countries.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of friends on the north side of the border,\u201d said Jackson Nagy, who has lived in Montana\u2019s Toole county for the past 27 years.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cMyself, I grew up playing hockey in Warner for eight years, you know, so I have a lot of buddies that are on the north side of line that this is going to impact \u2014 and I mean, living here my whole life, you just, you get used to seeing Canadian traffic going up the road, right? You get to know the neighbours and just noticing what they\u2019re doing on their operations and stuff like that,\u201d said Nagy.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it is kind of a bummer that they\u2019re going to lose access to it. It kind of sucks, the fact that it has to come to that because like I said, a lot of folks around here, not just myself, have a ton of good Canadian friends and a lot a family up north, too, and so it definitely affects more people than you realize, probably,\u201d added Nagy.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tToole County, Montana resident, Jackson Nagy, told Global News that he has family and friends on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border who use Border Road.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Warner County Coun. Ross Ford, who has lived in the area all his life, said the road, which was built in the 1940s, is used by people on both sides of the international border.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n The Americans supply the gravel and the Canadians make sure the road is properly maintained.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet weekly money news<\/p>\n Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cI live right across the road from my neighbour in Montana,\u201d said Ford.<\/p>\n \u201cHis dad used to walk over and see my dad to have a visit and and it was never, never an issue.\u00a0 I mean, they knew about it but, you know, it\u2019s just neighbours being neighbours and after 9\/11 we were told that we had to go through (customs) if we wanted to visit our neighbours \u2014 we had to go through a port of entry.\u201d<\/p>\n Although shutting down the Canadian\u2019s easy access has been talked about for years, it finally became a reality after the election of President Donald Trump who promised to secure the U.S. border from drugs and illegal immigration.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tStarting in July 2026, farmers and ranchers in Warner County, who regularly use Border Road to access their properties, will be forced to drive an extra 15 minutes each way to cross the border at Coutts, Alta. and Sweetgrass, Montana instead.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n It\u2019s an argument that might play well in Washington, but not for neighbours around Border Road, which Ford describes as \u201cone big community.\u201d<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIts more concerns with, you know, some of the criminal activity that\u2019s going on. Not that there\u2019s really much happening here. But you know, if they\u2019re going to secure the border, it\u2019s the whole border. \u201d said Ford.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you know, we understand. Sure, we\u2019re not happy about it and our neighbours are not happy about it.\u00a0 But you know, Washington basically is dictating and the people on the ground are just doing their job, I guess,\u201d added Ford.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tBorder Road was built in the 1940s. Although it\u2019s located in Montana, the Americans supply the gravel and Canadians maintain it.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Terry Kimmet, a commissioner for Toole County, Montana, isn\u2019t happy with the change either.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a great relationship with the County of Warner and all the people up there and people on both sides of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I used to play softball and they have softball fields right on the border \u2014 and if you hit a ball hard enough, you could hit it into the U.S., which is kind of iconic.\u201d<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cSo what do you have to do (now) \u2013 go to customs to get your softball back,\u201d asked Kimmet sarcastically.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s worked so well \u2014 but we\u2019ve never ever had a problem with it up until now.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimmet says the land around Border Road is so flat \u201cyou can see for probably five miles in any direction,\u201d so anyone or anything along the road is \u201cvery visible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll the people on there, they\u2019re the best eyes and ears for the Border Patrol if they see something illegal crossing in the area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Kimmet believes a more effective way of patrolling the border would be to \u201cjust put up a couple of well-placed towers and cameras (that) could capture everybody coming and going along that road.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s said he\u2019s given tours to all the senators and congressmen from the area.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times we\u2019ll drive that whole eight-and-a-half, nine-mile section and we don\u2019t see anybody. We don\u2019t see any RCMP. We don\u2019t see any border patrol.\u00a0 Nothing,\u201d said Kimmet.<\/p>\n But so far to no avail \u2014 the politicians in Washington seem intent on making everyone cross the border at Coutts and Sweetgrass.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tThe Reeve of Warner County, Randy Taylor, said he\u2019s been assured by the Alberta government that it will build a new, replacement road \u2014 this one in Alberta \u2014 once funding has been secured.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Randy Taylor, Reeve of Warner County, attended a meeting with representatives of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the end of July.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n While he was initially \u201cshocked\u201d by the decision to cut off Canadian access to the road, he said after the American government explained its point of view, he realized \u201cit\u2019s got to change.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tRelated News\n\t<\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/money123.jpg\")
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