A brand new Border Crossing has been built on the Mexico side of the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing.
It boast up to 22 gates to expedite traffic, which includes state-of-the-art technology for Customs and Security purposes. Drivers heading down to Baja Mexico can now enjoy a quick security checkand enjoy their time in Baja.
The border between Tijuana and San Diego, California, is known as the
busiest land port of entry between Mexico and the United States, recently
introduced a brand new infrastructure to cross into Mexico with an investment of
$60 Million, including the new POE and two bridges. The new port of entry known
as “El Chaparral,†tripled the existing capacity, increasing up to 6,000
vehicles per hour with 22 functioning lanes. Additionaly, “El Chaparral†port
of entry increases security and efficiency equipped with cutting-edge
technology to detect any illegal activity, making it the most modern in the
country
The U.S. counterpart, the San Ysidro Port of Entry, is now in process of a
$600 million dollar expansion, that will be completed in phases, in 2013 north
bound flows will be completed and the new connection through Interstate 5 to
“El Chaparral†will be concluded in 2016 once Congress approves funding. The
opening of “El Chaparral†is the first step of a bi-national effort for Smart
Border Crossing infrastructure.
The cities of Tijuana and San Diego are combining efforts to develop programs
that will speed up border crossing to minimize the impacts of long border waits
in the region. According to a Sandag (San Diego Association of Governments)
study, the net economic losses in the San Diego County due to long border waits
reach $1.28 billion in business income. On the Mexican side of the border the
negative impact is significant too; Baja California loses close to two million
personal trips a year that may result in about $118 million in net revenues.
For the U.S., the complete expansion project of the San Ysidro port of entry
represents an investment of over $600 million, which is being carried out in
three phases within the next four years; the plan to expand northbound lanes
would result in a total of 63 gates over 34 lanes.
While this occurs, new programs have been put together to speed up waiting
times such as, Ready Lane, Sentri and Fast Lane. People enrolled in these
programs have to submit applications and go through a pre-screening process;
being approved results in reducing waiting times from an average of 2 hours to
30 minutes or less during peak hours.
In addition to the aforementioned plans, there is a project for the
development of a bi-national air terminal linking Otay Mesa and Tijuana’s
airport. This terminal would be used exclusively by passengers who would have a
pedestrian border crossing entryway from where they would be able to board
direct flights to Shanghai, Tokyo and other international destinations. This
would increase interaction among the region and most important business
destinations.
Before Driving to Mexico, make sure to purchase your Mexico Auto Insurance on our website www.amigomexinsurance.com, where you can quote, buy and print your Mexico Auto Insurance policy in less than 5 minutes.
