BajaNomad - 7-20-2020 at 05:28 PM
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By WENDY FRY
JULY 16, 2020
OTAY MESA — A bi-national group of business organizations from the San Diego and Tijuana region are lobbying Mexico to push forward their end of a
new port of entry planned for Otay Mesa.
In a letter to Mexico’s secretary of transportation, the group of business leaders from both sides of the border advocated for Mexico to assign a
project leader for Otay Mesa East or Otay Mesa II, an estimated $100 million new facility.
The groups also want the Mexican government to purchase the rights to build a new road connecting the facility on the Mexican side.
“We have seen great progress on the American side,” states the letter, which was also signed by former Tijuana and San Diego mayors. The letter
notes the project already has presidential authorization in the United States.
Otay Mesa East would connect toll roads to a new “state-of-the-art” port of entry that would provide “fast and predictable border crossings,”
according to the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce.
On the California side, the port would connect to State Route 11.
The letter was sent Wednesday to Mexico’s Secretary of Communications and Transportation Javier Jiménez Espriú.
It was signed by a coalition of top business organizations in San Diego and Tijuana, including INDEX Tijuana, which is a business organization
representing border factories, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Smart Border Coalition and the Tijuana Economic Development Council
(DEITAC), among others.
Need has doubled since the pandemic hit. Here's what the organization is doing, and how you can help.
“Having a modern and versatile bi-national port will favor the fluid and orderly traffic of our foreign trade and millions of travelers ... " the
groups wrote. The Tijuana and San Diego region represents 16 percent of the foreign trade between Mexico and U.S., they said.
It’s a joint venture between San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and the California Department of Transportation and state and federal
governments in Mexico, aimed at fueling trade between the two regions.
Key features of the new facility would include the use of electronic toll rates to manage traffic, and a new border wait time detection system that
provides traveler with advanced alerts.
Amid coronavirus border restrictions, border waits increased so much that residents of Mexico resorted to sleeping overnight in their cars or on
sidewalks at the regular Otay Mesa Port of Entry to arrive at work on time in the San Diego region.
Though the situation improved since the Port of Entry returned to its normal 24-hour schedule in June, wait times remain high and average more than
three hours during peak hours, according to data tracked by the Smart Border Coalition.
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https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-califo...