BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2107
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
Member Is Offline
|
|
Great news!! 7 more lanes north bound @ San Ysidro
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/17/san-ysidro-border...
SAN YSIDRO — Could long lines at the San Ysidro Port of Entry be largely in the past?
Many drivers accustomed to waiting in line for hours instead sailed through the busy border crossing within minutes on Wednesday.
What made it possible was the reopening of seven inspection lanes — and the completion of a key phase in the $741 million reconstruction of the
massive port, the busiest on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The expanded capacity in the primary inspection lanes means that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency charged with operating the port of
entry, now has at its disposal 25 rebuilt inspection lanes with total of 46 booths. And that’s just the beginning: By January 2018, the port is
expected to grow to 34 lanes with 63 booths.
“This is incredible. I can’t believe it. There’s something like 15 cars ahead of me,” said Marco Montano, as he waited early Wednesday afternoon to
cross in the general lanes, which are usually the longest. He and a friend were heading from Tijuana to San Diego to purchase a bus part and had been
prepared for the usual wait of two to three hours — not 10 minutes.
And so the cars flowed into San Diego from Tijuana: A grandmother returning from a family visit, an unemployed man from Spring Valley coming back from
a doctor’s appointment, a construction worker from Lake Elsinore going home after visiting family in Rosarito Beach.
“It’s been years since I’ve seen such short lines,” said Roberto Arias, 59, preparing to drive to the Inland Empire.
Congestion at San Ysidro has grown steadily as U.S. border security measures increased following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The rebuilding
of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, overseen by the U.S. General Services Administration, is a project that has been years in the making.
Though Congress approved the modernization of the port of entry, it takes separate congressional votes to fund each of the three phases, two of which
have been approved. Funds for the final $216 million phase included in President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal 2015.
“I feel very confident,” U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, said of the funding. The region’s congressional delegation is “all aboard,” he said.
“When you have a united delegation, it’s much easier to make things happen.”
On Wednesday, the reopening of the inspection lanes was cause enough for celebration. For the past two years as workers have been upgrading the lanes,
seven to eight at a time have been closed, and having all available made a dramatic difference.
“It sounds too good to be true,” said Paola Avila, director of the Mexico Business Center of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We’re all
hesitant to think that Christmas has come to stay. We’ve lived for years with three-hour waits. It’s going to take awhile for it to sink in and
realize that this is the new reality that we have.”
The ripple effects of shorter lines at the San Ysidro Port of Entry are likely to reach deep into the economic, social and cultural life of both of
Baja California and San Diego. A 2007 study by San Diego Association of Governments found inadequate infrastructure at ports of entry on the
California-Mexico border cost the U.S. and Mexican economies $7.2 billion and 62,000 jobs.
To see for yourself, click this link and then go to camera #2--
http://www.bordertraffic.com/California-Baja/San-Ysidro-Tiju...
|
|
|
SlyOnce
Nomad
Posts: 262
Registered: 12-26-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
The 7 rightmost lanes formerly the SENTRI lanes were reopened this morning. SENTRI cars did not have to make a hard left turn into a severe
bottleneck. SENTRI traffic was flowing much smoother as a result. I cross SENTRI every morning, getting in the line about 5:30 AM. I was across by
5:40 this morning.
|
|
|
BooJumMan
Senior Nomad
Posts: 891
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
|
|
Wow thats great.
|
|
|
DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
|
|
What I think I see on those cams is consistent with the current CBP-reported ZERO minute wait times in all three lane types, regular, ready and Sentri
(on the Border Wait Times app). FWIW, Ready lane user-reported wait is 18 minutes, Sentri is 1 minute, no data on regular lanes. Wow.
On the downside (because I can find a dark cloud wherever there's a silver lining), it looks like now people won't have time to grab a churro or a
surfing monkey statue while in the lanes. OTOH, maybe it'll be like the old days, when you could actually park and get out of your car at that island
right at the crossing to do a little last minute eating and shopping.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
|
|
|
Tomas Tierra
Super Nomad
Posts: 1281
Registered: 3-23-2005
Location: oxnard, ca
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tengo Flojera
|
|
Crossed Friday at 11am northbound wait time at 20 mins, non sentri..... Going 25 by all the vendors!
Best cross ever at TJ... Border app was saying 10 mins at SY, and thirty at Otay..
|
|
|
woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
|
|
we'll sample the new lanes in T minus 32 days....
|
|
|
Maron
Nomad
Posts: 458
Registered: 4-14-2014
Member Is Offline
|
|
That is great news. We are waiting on our Sentri approval. We not need it.
Thanks for the update.
Peace
Ron and Mary Ann
|
|
|
bigmike58
Nomad
Posts: 286
Registered: 1-20-2012
Location: Homeland CA/Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: Fish on!
|
|
Last night- Saturday 10:30 pm--- 10 min wait- 7 cars ahead of us..
I don't miss the constant sales pitches- you fly right past all the vendors.
We hit McDonalds in the US rather than pizza/burritos and a 3hr wait....
BTW, Tecate wait was listed at 45min.
[Edited on 9-21-2014 by bigmike58]
Shouldn\'t one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check or Sec.8 housing?
........... I had to pass one to earn it for them!
\"I\'ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go?\"
|
|
|
WhackAMolE
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 1-6-2014
Member Is Offline
|
|
Do you get the same benefit at the Ready lane? Or is it now better to cross through the regular lane?
|
|
|
Tomas Tierra
Super Nomad
Posts: 1281
Registered: 3-23-2005
Location: oxnard, ca
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tengo Flojera
|
|
One report at ten mins, one report at 20 mins... How much better can it get at the ready lane?
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
