BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – It’s time to dissolve the border between the United States and Canada in the Northeast and create a new super trade corridor served by a cohesive system of rail and roads, says the president of a Canadian think tank who brought his vision to Buffalo Thursday.

Brian Lee Crowley calls the would-be region “Atlantica.”

On the map, Atlantica is a borderless swath swallowing Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and the Canadian Atlantic provinces.

“The border is far more disruptive to economic efficiency (in the region) than almost anywhere else,” said Crowley, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, speaking at a Rotary meeting in Buffalo.

Because of the border, there exists a fragmented rail system and insufficient infrastructure that would allow, for example, heavy cargo from the Port of Halifax in Nova Scotia to make it to Buffalo and beyond, Crowley said.

“Halifax and the opportunity it presents for this whole region is in fact strangled by both railroad infrastructure and road infrastructure,” he said.

The idea of Atlantica has been simmering for several years, fed by free trade and globalization, and has gained supporters on both sides of the border, where many of the communities suffer with high unemployment, population losses and below-average incomes.

Roger Marsham, Canadian consulate general in Buffalo, declared the idea “brilliant.” Officially, Canadian leaders have only informally discussed how to make Atlantica a reality, he said.

Among the obstacles are the United States’ post-Sept. 11 security concerns that dominate cross-border policy.

“What has to happen is Canada and the United States have to come up with standards that give Canada the market access that it looks for and gives America the sense of security that having that opening to Canada and the world will not threaten its security,” Crowley said.

He called on political leaders to build cross-border coalitions and continue to expand free trade.

“At least we’re starting to think strategically about where we fit in continentally and globally,” he said.