bajalou - 5-10-2004 at 06:11 PM
A friend Emailed this to me - anyhone else heard anything about it??
May 2004
By Tim Gaynor
TIJUANA, Mexico, May (Reuters) - Mexico said on Wednesday it plans to significantly increase the number of border crossings to the
United States to cope with growing trade and tighter security following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Arturo Gonzalez, Mexico's newly appointed commissioner for northern border affairs, said the government aims to boost the number of
road, rail and pedestrian crossings along the 2,060 mile (3,300 km) frontier from 52 to as many as 78.
"If we are going to keep increasing trade between the U.S. and Mexico, then we have to have better infrastructure ... more commuter
lanes, more pedestrian lanes and more crossing points across the whole region," Gonzalez told Reuters.
The crossing between Tijuana and nearby San Diego is the busiest land frontier in the world, with an estimated 60 million transits
each year.
Officials from the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, were not immediately
available for comment.
Gonzalez said failure to act could result in a slowdown in truck trade, vital to the economy of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
"If the changes are not made, then waiting times will get longer, commerce will suffer through delays and there will be a loss of
economic activity on both sides of the border," he said.
The United States is the destination for 90 percent of Mexico's exports and long lines of trucks at the border are common.
Despite having 24 traffic lanes heading north into the United States, Gonzalez said peak time delays at Tijuana's San Ysidro border
post reach up to three hours.
"At present we have 52 frontier crossings, three of which are closed, and we have projects for a further 26 crossings ... including
vehicle, rail and pedestrian links along the border," he said.
"The delays are caused by increased (bilateral) trade, increased population, and increased security since the Sept. 11 attacks,"
Gonzalez said.
He gave no time frame for opening the border posts.
[Edited on 5-11-2004 by bajalou]
David K - 5-10-2004 at 06:37 PM
Crossings outside of cities would be great. The most stressfull part of a Baja trip is the Tijuana and Mexicali crossings (both ways).
I would like to see a crossing at Playas de Tijuana (near Bullring by the sea) so all traffic (from south of Tijuana) coming north can go straight in.
Another crossing near Laguna Salada (bottom of the grade) to Hwy. 98 and/or El Hongo to Jacumba would reduce traffic in Tecate and Mexicali.