Do not cross the street!
If you cross the street, you will have to pay a fine or worse you will go to jail. This rule sounds crazy. But it is reality for the local residents of a street in the United States and Canada.
To understand why this street has this strange rule, you have to understand where this street is located. The street is 612 m long and is located in a small residential area. So there aren´t any sights. But there is one special fact about this small street: The border between Canada and the United States, which is the longest border in the world between two nations, divides this street.
That’s also the reason why this street is named like that. “Can” stands for Canada and “-usa” stands for the United States. It also shows their good relationship and especially their good teamwork at the border since there are pass controls. That´s why there are cameras, police officers and even sensors in the ground. There are also two yellow lines which represent the border and remind the people of not crossing the street. But besides that, each side has their own school, fire department, post office, garbage collection and other services. The only thing the local residents have to share are power and water supply. However, if there is an emergency, the border won´t be a reason not to help each other.
But how could this happened? The reason for that isn´t 100% sure. But local residents claim that at the end of the 18th century a group of surveyors, who had to decide where the border of the United States and Canada should be (45° and 49° latitude line were actual orientation for the border), were drunk and so they decided the border should go through this street. Another explanation would be the limited surveying methods at that time.
Not being able to visit the neighbour or missing balls from children are the smallest problem. Currently, the police officers have to deal with smuggle such as weapons and drugs and also illegal immigrants at the border (not only at this street). Fortunately that never happened at this street. However, the rules weren´t always so strict as today. Back in the days the local residents were allowed to cross the street. So there was an exception. But after the terrorist attack in September 11th 2001 this exception was withdrawn because the terrorists apparently came from Canada to the United States.
All in all, it is still a quiet area. But don´t forget your passport, if you want to go to the other side of the street!
Text: P.Luc Bild: Pixabay, By Kether83 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6595180
