Well....there really isn't one. Came through this AM and it's the same as it's always been.....in case anyone was wondering.Jack Swords - 10-20-2012 at 08:20 PM
Thanks Dennis, hope to keep informed as we cross in 40 days. Appreciate the posting.niknas - 10-24-2012 at 09:27 AM
"Starting Wednesday, Mexico will begin routing southbound traffic from San Diego to Tijuana through the new El Chaparral port of entry, whose formal
opening is scheduled for Nov. 1.
A statement Tuesday from the Mexican Consulate in San Diego said the aim is to “allow users to become familiar with the new entry route to Mexico and
with the operation of the new installations.”
Anybody know where the emigration office will be located?
Thanks,
Nickrdrrm8e - 10-24-2012 at 01:24 PM
Tell me I am not going to have to deal with this on friday morning.
Will SY be open Sunday on return?DENNIS - 10-24-2012 at 02:42 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by rdrrm8e
Will SY be open Sunday on return?
Yes......of course, but you won't like it unless you hit it really early in the day.
If not, you should consider another crossing.Bomberro - 10-24-2012 at 02:44 PM
Just Great! Crossing Sunday morning and really hope if they divert all to the new crossing, the signs showing how to get to the toll road are in
place. Getting lost in TJ is a very bad thing at o-dark thirty. How far to the East does the new road take the tourist? Do they have a corresponding
road on the Mexico side that takes one back to the street to the toll road? I know too many questions....I will look back on Nomad and find the
drawing of the new crossing.rdrrm8e - 10-24-2012 at 02:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Quote:
Originally posted by rdrrm8e
Will SY be open Sunday on return?
Yes......of course, but you won't like it unless you hit it really early in the day.
If not, you should consider another crossing.
Very familiar with that mess.
Dennis, do you know where the emigration office is at Otay? Do you know their hours?Taco de Baja - 10-24-2012 at 02:53 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bomberro
Just Great! Crossing Sunday morning and really hope if they divert all to the new crossing, the signs showing how to get to the toll road are in
place.
I hope so too; or at least get some detailed info and maps on how this can "easily" be done by Nomads who have done it. In looking at aerials, this
could be a real fuster cluck for a while. DENNIS - 10-24-2012 at 03:45 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by rdrrm8e
Dennis, do you know where the emigration office is at Otay? Do you know their hours?
No to both questions although someone here will be along shortly with that info.
Sorry, Chuck.Keri - 10-24-2012 at 04:03 PM
What about the sentri. Where is that going to be. Anyone know that yet? kJack Swords - 10-24-2012 at 04:05 PM
Try this: Go to Chaparral transition and the maps are pretty good. No info on immigration.
Originally posted by Keri
What about the sentri. Where is that going to be. Anyone know that yet? k
Hi Keri.....unless I'm confused, the crossing in question, El Chaparral, is only southbound.Ateo - 10-24-2012 at 05:07 PM
Yeah, hope they get this all settled before the Baja 1000 next month. I'll be coming down and will need to get a tourist card. Hopefully the office
will be easy to find.Bomberro - 10-25-2012 at 02:16 PM
The new El Chaparral southbound crossing is approx one mile east of the present location. Otay Mesa is only about two more miles and I will not chance
El Chaparral on Saturday morning as I read on one blog that the Mexican businessmen are concerned that signs are not up to direct visitors to toll
road etc. So much better to go with a known safe road to the Corridor 2000 to the toll road. May take a few minutes longer but would hate to be
running around in the dark lost. Also the 905 was open two weeks ago to the border. Good luck all crossing people. I will keep watch on the this forum
for any updated info, just in case.J.P. - 10-25-2012 at 03:47 PM
I crossed south bound yesterday 10/24 at 3pm. nothing had changed it was the usual going home trafic.DENNIS - 10-25-2012 at 04:14 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by J.P.
I crossed south bound yesterday 10/24 at 3pm. nothing had changed it was the usual going home trafic.
Sandra
Dibble is displaying her usual level of confusion.
New southbound border opened on Wednesday.
skipowell - 10-25-2012 at 08:25 PM
Went through the new Chapparal border. It is actually West of the existing lane. A previous poster said it was East. Both the old and new are
opened at this time.
decided to give the new crossing a chance this AM before it gets super busy. It seems to be a bit longer getting to the toll road, but no major
issues. Sopposely next week the old entrance will be closed and we will all have to use the new Chapparal entrance.DENNIS - 10-25-2012 at 08:29 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by skipowell
Went through the new Chapparal border. It is actually West of the existing lane. A previous poster said it was East.
Yeah.....I wondered about that. I'll be using it in a few days too.AlanDow - 10-26-2012 at 04:56 PM
Anyone tried to get a tourist card / FMM at the Chapparal crossing yet? I am planning on crossing November 3rd and need to get an FMM and it is my
understanding that the old San Ysidro entry will close November 1st. Would sure like to hear from someone who gets an FMM at Chapparal - regarding
the layout, where to park and where immigration office is located, etc.castaway$ - 10-26-2012 at 05:01 PM
We are headed down the first part of December and we usually cross before daybreak on Sunday. So with the crossing being moved and its going to be
dark is it recommended that we go to Otay so we don't get lost trying to find the route to the toll road?Bomberro - 10-27-2012 at 07:29 AM
We were wrong about El Chaparral location, San Diego newspaper the UT, says it is West of present crossing. They have a map with the temporary road in
red to the new crossing. No info on how to get onto the road to the toll road. We are guessing by looking at roads in the area that they might direct
one back towards the old crossing where one might come onto the bridge just before the right turn onto the road to the toll road. We will cross early
Sunday morning and hope that we have a choice of crossings, and we will opt for the old if at all prossible.
Crossed again this morning, no choices today, had to use the new Chapparel crossing. I think down the road this is going to be easier, but... They
are doing road work on the international border road, looks like all the trees they planted a few years ago are coming out and they are widening the
road to three lanes. So needless to say with the road work going on this morning the traffic was a bit of a nightmare, only one lane open.
Fortunately the Mexican road work moves at a much faster pace than CalTrans.
Next time we cross we are going to take the Centro option, guessing it will take you to 3rd avenue. It might be worth avoiding the border fence road
for the next week or so.TMW - 10-27-2012 at 11:23 AM
So when you cross to the Mexican side does it take you next to the border fenceon the hwy to the toll road?
From today's SD UT
durrelllrobert - 10-27-2012 at 11:47 AM
El Chaparral border crossing opens to cars
Access road built by the Mexican government to the new El Chaparral port of entry.
Written by
Sandra Dibble
TIJUANA — Mexican customs inspectors processed passenger vehicles at the El Chaparral port of entry for the first time on Wednesday morning, seven
days before its scheduled formal opening on Nov. 1.
The new lanes are located west of the current southbound access lanes at Puerta Mexico. El Chaparral will triple the southbound inspection capacity of
the world’s busiest land border crossing.
At 11 a.m., Mexican customs inspectors stood at the end of Interstate 5 and waved southbound cars toward the new facility -- down a sharp curve at the
end of the freeway that leads to Mexico’s five-lane access road running west along the U.S. border fence.
Traffic at the new port was light at the time, and there were more inspectors than vehicles. Some of them waited at the secondary inspection station,
carrying small hand-held computers in preparation for searching vehicles that received a red-light warning at the initial stop.
On the way out, new signs pointed the way to different parts of Tijuana.
A statement Tuesday from Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said that through Oct. 31, El Chaparral's transitional opening will “allow users to become familiar
with the new entry route to Mexico and with the operation of the new installations.”
El Chaparral has "state-of-the-art technology to carry out unobtrusive inspections of vehicles and passengers,” the statement said, promising reduced
wait times.
The opening of El Chaparral is part of a massive binational reconstruction of the congested San Ysidro border crossing. The El Chaparral facility is
envisioned as a replacement for the existing southbound lanes at Puerta Mexico, which are planned as northbound lanes once the U.S. funds the third
phase of its end of the project.
Local government and business leaders have been demanding that Puerta Mexico remain open even after El Chaparral starts operations; they worry that
the curve and access road will create a bottleneck during peak periods of vehicle traffic into Mexico.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón said earlier this month that both Puerta Mexico and El Chaparral will be open during an initial transition phase,
but he did not say how long that phase would last. Mexican federal authorities have maintained to their U.S. counterparts that the Puerta Mexico lanes
will close on Nov. 1st, and the only access to Mexico will be through El Chaparral.
The U.S. government plans to build a permanent connection between I-5 and El Chaparral once Congress provides funding.DENNIS - 10-27-2012 at 12:13 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by durrelllrobert
The U.S. government plans to build a permanent connection between I-5 and El Chaparral once Congress provides funding.
Maybe after the election. Taco de Baja - 10-28-2012 at 12:51 PM
Here is a video, in Spanish, on the new crossing.
In looking at the graphic renderings, it looks like there will be a direct connection to the Toll road to Ensenada. Looks like we will want to stay in
the right lane, and a horse-shoe bridge over the river will connect to Playa de TJ road, that connects to the Toll Road. Let's all hope it's going to
be that easy.
I crossed today and it is great. Even easier than the old crossing. Just get to the right once you cross and you`re on your way to Ensenada couta.Jack Swords - 10-29-2012 at 05:38 AM
Still waiting for info on the declaration lane/immigration office/bank. Anyone know yet?luv2fish - 10-29-2012 at 05:47 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by BornFisher
I crossed today and it is great. Even easier than the old crossing. Just get to the right once you cross and you`re on your way to Ensenada couta.
Once you cross, how long till you get to the first toll booth in Playas??????boe4fun - 10-29-2012 at 08:30 AM
Leaving this Friday PM or early Saturday AM. Any word on where the immigration office is and the hours of operation? Also a bank for payment of the
FMM's? Is parking available during the transaction? Gracias.AlanDow - 10-29-2012 at 03:35 PM
I am two days behind boe4fun, planning to cross this Sunday and trying to figure out if I should chance attempting to get my FMM at chaparral without
any knowledge of where / how, or even if it is available there - versus cross at Otay or Tecate (although I have never crossed at either before). I
emailed Baja Bound and asked them if it was true the old San Ysidro north to south crossing would close by November 1st, and if so did they have any
info on how/where to get FMM at the new Chaparral crossing. Per their response pasted below, they have no info yet (if I get anything from them later
I will post here)
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your email.
Those are very good questions!
I'll see if we can find anything out this week and let you know.
So far the phone numbers we have for Immigration in Tijuana are not working.Ateo - 10-29-2012 at 03:44 PM
Yeah. Need fmm update as well. At new crossing on right?AlanDow - 10-30-2012 at 02:44 PM
Here is the latest info from Baja Bound regarding getting FMM - before November 5th it appears we could be in for a "long walk" if the old crossing is
not open when we cross:
Hi Alan,
We tracked down a phone number for Mexican Immigration at the San Ysidro crossing (Puerto Mexico).
I spoke to two different people, yesterday and today to try to get a more complete story.
At this time, the Immigration office is still at Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro. The one at El Chaparral will not open apparently until November 5th.
First a bit of background of what is going on with the crossings in my personal experience.
In the last almost week, sometimes they are:
1) Using only Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro
2) Using only El Chaparral
3) Using both
If they are only using Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro, you may cross as usual. We recommend crossing in the declaration lane since this allows you to park
easily inside the Mexican Customs (Aduana) facility. Then the Immigration office (and banks where you pay for the FMM Tourist Card) is right there
near the parking.
If they are only using El Chaparral, the Immigration officer I spoke to said to go ahead and cross, then park in the El Chaparral facility. For those
who are new to El Chaparral, it is set up differently from Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro. As soon as you cross into Mexico, the El Chaparral facility has
parking spots that you drive past. She told me you may park there and then walk to the Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro border crossing. (Ask around how to
walk back there, I'm not clear on how to find it exactly.)
If both are open, for obvious reasons it is best to cross through Puerto Mexico/San Ysidro.
I hope this is helpful! If you have any additional questions, we'll try to find out for you.
Thanks,
Jennifer Hill
VP Agency Development
Baja Bound Insurance Services, Inc.boe4fun - 10-30-2012 at 05:21 PM
OK that cuts it. Thanks Alan, I'll be crossing at Tecate. Anybody know what time immigration opens there? Thanks in advance.boe4fun - 10-31-2012 at 08:55 AM
Hola, Bajaguy U2U'ed me and suggested crossing at Otay Mesa instead of Tecate and taking the Corridor 2000. My question is where do you park at Otay
while you're getting your FMM's? I don't think that there is parking on the street (too many taxi cabs) and I don't want to park in the Aduana
parking lot past the bank because I'm afraid it'll take an hour or two to get out of there. Can you park in the secondary area as soon as you cross
into Mexico? What are the hours of the Immigration Office and the bank? Thanks.
