Funding sought for upgrades to San Ysidro crossing - $226 million would pay for added inspection booths, connection to Mexico's El Chaparral
crossing
From The San Diego Union Tribune
By Sandra Dibble
"Efforts to continue the reconstruction the congested San Ysidro Port of Entry got support from President Obama on Wednesday, with the
administration's request for $226 million in funding for the project as part of the FY 2014 budget.
The current estimated cost of the overall project is $732 million, considerably higher than an earlier estimate of $577 million.
If approved by Congress, the new funds would be used to realign the I-5 freeway to connect to Tijuana's El Chaparral crossing, Mexico's counterpart to
San Ysidro that opened in October. Cars entering Mexico currently are routed to El Chaparral through a temporary access road.
The Obama budget proposal also would allocate funds for 17 additional northbound inspection booths, adding up to a total 63, according to the U.S.
General Services Administration, which is overseeing the project.
"This project is critical to the economic security of our region," said U.S. Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, in a statement issued jointly with fellow
Democrats on San Diego's congressional delegation, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas. "Promoting and sustaining economic growth should be our top priority.
We can't get there unless we make critical investments to our nation's ports of entry."
Launched in February 2011, the expansion of the San Ysidro border crossing aims to bring relief to drivers and pedestrians at the port who have faced
longer lines under stepped-up U.S. security requirements since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
As wait times have increased, the number of northbound private vehicle crossings at the port has dropped dramatically, from a peak of 17.9 million in
fiscal 2004 to last year's total of 11.6 million, according to figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Planners for the upgraded port envisioned the work being carried out in three distinct phases.
While Congress approved the project, it so far has only funded $292 million in improvements that include a pedestrian bridge opened in 2011; a new
southbound pedestrian crossing opened last year and a future pedestrian crossing at Virginia Avenue. The allocated funds are also paying for a major
expansion of the northbound vehicle inspection facilities to 46 inspection booths across 25 lanes, scheduled to be completed this fall.
The administration's proposed additional funding would pay for key pieces of the massive project, but does not include money for a new administration
building and pedestrian inspection facilities that were part of the upgrade plan.
The new infrastructure is seen as critical to reducing wait times at San Ysidro, where pedestrians and drivers in the general vehicle lanes must often
wait for two hours to cross - twice that amount of time during peak crossing hours.
Last weekend, northbound drivers saw a dramatic drop in wait times at the port, as a pause in construction permitted the opening of additional lanes,
up from 17 to 23, for a total of 43 inspection booths.
"We're always trying to be more effective and efficient, but we still have the need for facility expansion to make the kinds of impacts on congestion
that the community deserves," said Pete Flores, director of field operations in San Diego for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which manages the
port.
Flores said that over the weekend, the average wait time was reduced by 48 percent to 73 percent in the general traffic lanes and the Ready Lanes, the
latter restricted to crossers with certain U.S. documents that can be read by computers.
"Not only did we reduce wait times, but we processed 19 percent more traffic," Flores said.
According to the agency's figures, that amounted 86,798 vehicles, up from 72,950 vehicles for the weekend of March 22 to 24."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
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