EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A border crossing built to spare urban areas in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, of heavy commercial truck traffic may finally reach its potential.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will resume processing commercial truck traffic at the Marcelino Serna port of entry in Tornillo, Texas, beginning on Aug. 7. The cargo area of the port opened in March 2016 but suspended operations in May 2017 due to low traffic volumes.
But things have changed six years later. Mexico last month finished a new toll road near Samalayuca 30 miles south of Juarez. The Mexican government and industry stakeholders estimate some 300 trucks coming from the interior of the country with assembled parts and other cargo intended for delivery in the U.S. will cross the Tornillo port every week.
The cargo facility will open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Facility hours may change based on demand and usage, CBP said.
“This state-of-the-art port was built with the future in mind and can be expanded to meet the demand of the trade community,” said acting CBP Director of Field Operations Ray Provencio. “CBP stands ready to meet the growing needs of international trade in our region while also maintaining our vital homeland security mission.”
More than 1 million commercial trucks a year come across ports of entry in the El Paso Field Office area of operations. This includes the Columbus and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, ports of entry and the cargo lot at Presidio, Texas, CBP said. But the busiest commercial border crossings are in El Paso proper. The Ysleta Port of Entry processed 654,213 trucks in fiscal year 2022 while officers at the Bridge of the Americas inspected 183,743.
Residents and local officials on both sides of the border are trying to minimize the impact of heavy truck traffic on El Paso and Juarez. And while Ysleta (or Zaragoza, as it is known in Mexico) is the shortest path to the U.S. for commercial traffic originating from east and southeast Juarez industrial parks, efforts are ongoing to reroute U.S.-bound truck traffic coming from Central Mexico and Northern Mexico, Juarez industry officials and Chihuahua state authorities said.
“It is very positive to have more crossing options for our merchandise produced here or coming from the interior of the country. This is in line with efforts by industry and transport companies to be more efficient in the use of our border crossings,” said Thor Salayandia, vice president of the Mexican Chamber of Industry.
The crossing eventually could help cut down border wait times for truckers but immediately becomes an alternative should there be delays at the larger commercial ports, he said.
The Marcelino Serna port of entry, still known in Mexico as Tornillo-Guadalupe, opened to passenger and pedestrian traffic in 2014. The port is located on 117 acres in East El Paso County, which CBP says makes it the largest land border port in the country. The crossing replaced the old Fabens, Texas, port of entry. The port is named after a decorated World War I veteran.
