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BajaMama
Super Nomad
Posts: 1107
Registered: 10-4-2015
Location: Pleasanton/Punta Chivato
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Mood: Got Baja fever!!
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SENTRI Lanes
I and hubby are getting our SENTRI passes - I am researching how to find the way to the magic lanes, however, all I can find are very complicated
routes with illegal turns and alternate routes in case of police. My questions is this: Is it possible to take Paseo de los Heros to Blvd.
Independencia, to Blvd. Padre Kino, the up Padre Kino to the the SENTRI lanes? Are these directions not given on line because there is something
wrong with going this way?
I sure would appreciate some input!
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CortezBlue
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What city?
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
- Albert Einstein
Follow Cortez Blue
www.cortezblue.com
We put the FUNK in disFUNKtion |
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
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Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Where will you be accessing SENTRI from???
I have found the Otay Mesa crossing to be easier, less confusing if you will be crossing from Rosarito south.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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https://www.bajabound.com/before/driving/directions/san_ysid...
https://www.bajabound.com/before/driving/directions/otay_sen...
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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gsbotanico
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Registered: 7-28-2015
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, CA
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Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama  | I and hubby are getting our SENTRI passes - I am researching how to find the way to the magic lanes, however, all I can find are very complicated
routes with illegal turns and alternate routes in case of police. My questions is this: Is it possible to take Paseo de los Heros to Blvd.
Independencia, to Blvd. Padre Kino, the up Padre Kino to the the SENTRI lanes? Are these directions not given on line because there is something
wrong with going this way?
I sure would appreciate some input! |
Yes, you can take Paseo de los Heroes to Independencia and make the left turn at the roundabout on Padre Kino and access the Sentri lanes. However,
there is a big if. When the Sentri lanes back up to the roundabout on Padre Kino, which happens on very busy days, the police makes you go right on
Padre Kino instead of left. A real pain!
The solution is to continue on Paseo de los Heroes to Cuauhtemoc (the next big roundabout) to access Padre Kino. Watch for the sign as you're
crossing the bridge over the river. The legal way to get to Padre Kino is to go right at the first stoplight after crossing the bridge, staying in
the left of two turning lanes. Then curve around to the left, staying towards the right to go to Padre Kino, not Centenario. The two streets
parallel each other., and it's confusing the first time. Many people make the illegal left turn directly from Cuauhtemoc Norte. If traffic is backed
up, you will get a straight shot to the Sentri lanes.
When traffic is lighter in the Sentri lanes, access from Independencia works fine. I crossed yesterday from Cuauhtemoc with very little traffic and
drove directly to the agent at the booth without stopping. except at the two stop signs.. It took less than 30 seconds to cross the border itself.
Presidents' Day took an hour and the line was backed up almost to Cuauhtemoc.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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thats a good question, I don't know why they don't recommend that route.
that was the route that was used to get to the east lanes before sentri/ready lanes existed. I found it to be the easiest, especially coming off the
free road!
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Udo
Elite Nomad
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Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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Exactly!
And why cross at San Ysidro?
| Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy |
I have found the Otay Mesa crossing to be easier, less confusing if you will be crossing from Rosarito south. |
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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BajaNomad
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Thread Moved
3-1-2016 at 07:18 PM |
BajaMama
Super Nomad
Posts: 1107
Registered: 10-4-2015
Location: Pleasanton/Punta Chivato
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Thank you for your responses, especially GSBotanico. I get confused driving in TJ (between age & MS my brain wires cross a lot). I just wanted
to make sure the route I mapped out will get me there, I didn't want to do the route BajaBound recommends - it looks very confusing and, for me, easy
to get lost on, as I will be solo the first time trying to find the SENTRI lanes. I cross at San Ysidro - We have our interviews w/CPB early April,
hope I get the passes before we head down in May. Uno, I cross at San Isidro because I follow my father in law up and he always crosses there (he is
80, not gonna change him...)
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
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BajaMama,
I have a suggestion.
If you can, make your first northbound SENTRI crossing early on a Sunday morning. There will be A LOT less traffic. Make sure to note landmarks
(stores, signs, whatever) at turns. Negotiating TJ traffic when it is heavy can be nerve-racking when you are not used to it and not certain about
where you're going.
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Udo
Elite Nomad
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Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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Mood: TEQUILA!
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That is a very good plan, H andsome.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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gsbotanico
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Registered: 7-28-2015
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, CA
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San Ysidro makes sense if one lives on the coast in San Diego county as I do. It's the shortest distance from Rosarito using the old road from
Rosarito Norte to TJ, then up the coast. I never liked the Otay crossing, even though I used it regularly for 2 or 3 years after it opened because
the lines were so short. But traffic got bad, especially at the cinco y diez intersection. After Blvd. 2000 was opened, this gave a better way if
one doesnt't need to backtrack to the turnoff south of Rosarito.
I used to use the Tecate crossing on holidays weekends if I was in the Ensenada area, but now this crossing when busy can take more than an hour, and
there is no Sentri.
Let's face it. There are pluses and minus for all the crossings. Familiarity is a good reason to stick to a known route, especially at night.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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(SY)wouldn't you think as an extra added bonus to our squeaky clean friends they would have made the far left regular lanes the sentri and sent the
masses on the bazaar journey east of the river? 
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gsbotanico
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Location: Cardiff by the Sea, CA
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It used to be easier to get to the Sentri lanes in San Ysidro off the Vía Rápida Oriente. I would loop around the CFE complex on Cuauhtemoc and head
straight into the Sentri lanes. Now it's a good way to get to the Ready Lanes.
After the old southbound Mexican Customs is torn down and the new lanes going north are built, perhaps it will be easier to cross the border. I've
been driving down since I was a teenager. It's never been easy. As fast as improvements are made, the traffic increases even faster.
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BajaMama
Super Nomad
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Location: Pleasanton/Punta Chivato
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Mood: Got Baja fever!!
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Thanks again all - it looks like my first crossing will be midday on a Wednesday (driving up from El Rosario). This will happen early June. Since it
is during the day it gives me sight and time to re-find if I get lost!
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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could you be confusing rosarito with el rosario?
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gsbotanico
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Location: Cardiff by the Sea, CA
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Instead of taking the toll road all the way to the end, at the north end of Rosarito, you can turn off where it says "Rosarito Norte" and take the old
highway into Tijuana. The turnoff is where there is bridge construction going on. This is several miles north of the middle pay station on the toll
road.
Follow this into Tijuana, staying on the main road. It becomes Cuauhtemoc Sur. There are many stoplights. Don't despair. You are going the right
way. At one point the road becomes one-way. You're getting close to the Cuauhtemoc roundabout. The road then becomes two-way again. Going through
the roundabout the street becomes Cuauhtemoc Norte. Follow the directions I gave above after crossing the river bridge. There's no dead end.
Traffic should not be bad on midday Wednesday. In spite of all the stoplights, traffic moves along pretty good. Some of the lights are
synchronized, so there can 4 to 5 green lights in a row.
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BajaMama
Super Nomad
Posts: 1107
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Location: Pleasanton/Punta Chivato
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I could never confuse Rosarito with El Rosario! Spent a lot of time in a little house just north of Rosarito Beach in the 1980's (before it turned
into an urban sprawl) - our first two kids were created there! LOL. It is about six hours to the border from El Rosario, so if I get on the road (I
am an early bird) by 6:00 I will cross mid-day. Thanks all the advise.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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| Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama | | I could never confuse Rosarito with El Rosario! Spent a lot of time in a little house just north of Rosarito Beach in the 1980's (before it turned
into an urban sprawl) - our first two kids were created there! LOL. It is about six hours to the border from El Rosario, so if I get on the road (I
am an early bird) by 6:00 I will cross mid-day. Thanks all the advise. |
lol...that was a response to a previous reply(thats since been deleted) that'll teach me to not use quotes!
let us know how you fared, my daughter just got her sentri and was asking about the easiest route
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Gypsy62
Newbie
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Registered: 3-7-2016
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Newbie. Well, to this site, not baja. Took local buses to San Felipe in 79, on through '97 probably spent >4 months on beaches all points La
Paz-north. Pleased to be back.
Question:
I'm currently content at an RV campo N of Ensenada, hopefully long-term.
I've got to make a trip a week to SD area for various materials I (unfortunately) can't obtain y MX.
"Loathsome" well-describes the TJ-SY crossing.
Over the years I've done anything possible to avoid TJ entirely (re the city itself, maybe unfairly).
These days, how's the Tecate crossing compare?
Are the extra 50 miles detouring through Tecate justified. I'd rather drive 150 extra miles than sit in the TJ queue for 2+ hours!
Re Sentri, for "regulars" it sounds like a must.
Do you have to be US ex-military/law enforcement to qualify? Sorry if there's other threads with these answers.
Thanks
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Howdy, and welcome aboard
Cross at Otay. I can send you the directions if you want. In my humble opinion I wouldn't go the Tecate route unless you are headed east on Interstate
8....it's out of the way if you are doing any shopping in San Diego
The Otay crossing puts you on the I-905. from there you can hit the I-805 north to Olympic Parkway, then east to Eastlake Parkway (about an 8 mile
drive).......there is all the shopping you need there: Home Depot, Lowe's, Trader Joes, Target, Super Wal-Mart, Von's, Ralph's. Costco is about 2
miles from there on "H" street
SENTRI depends on your criminal history, If you are clean with no past incidents, you get SENTRI. CBP doesn't care if you have super secret squirrel
clearance from the military, you still have to play their game but it is worth it
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/969/~/sentri-el...
| Quote: Originally posted by Gypsy62 | Newbie. Well, to this site, not baja. Took local buses to San Felipe in 79, on through '97 probably spent >4 months on beaches all points La
Paz-north. Pleased to be back.
Question:
I'm currently content at an RV campo N of Ensenada, hopefully long-term.
I've got to make a trip a week to SD area for various materials I (unfortunately) can't obtain y MX.
"Loathsome" well-describes the TJ-SY crossing.
Over the years I've done anything possible to avoid TJ entirely (re the city itself, maybe unfairly).
These days, how's the Tecate crossing compare?
Are the extra 50 miles detouring through Tecate justified. I'd rather drive 150 extra miles than sit in the TJ queue for 2+ hours!
Re Sentri, for "regulars" it sounds like a must.
Do you have to be US ex-military/law enforcement to qualify? Sorry if there's other threads with these answers.
Thanks
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