SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The proposed Otay Mesa East Port of Entry is not getting built as promised on the U.S. side of the border, according to Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Baja California’s governor.
Ávila Olmeda Mexico and Baja California governments are living up to their commitments to build the new border crossing on time.
“We’re very happy with what we’re seeing as we make important advances. We’re just months if not weeks from finishing with the Mexican side,” said the governor. “We’re now working on minor details, aesthetics related to this very important crossing, which will have a lot of modern-day technology.”
She also stated it’s now up to the U.S. to live up to its end of the bargain.
“The American part is missing. As you get near the crossing, it’s very evident how on the Mexican side a lot of progress has been made. It’s almost done, but on the American side, we haven’t seen the process even get started.”
Ávila Olmeda says they will remain optimistic knowing how important the project is to both countries.
The new port of entry would require a toll in both directions — money to be shared by both governments. It will have commercial and regular vehicle lanes.
On the U.S. side of the border, SANDAG — the San Diego Association of Governments — and the California Department of Transportation have been spearheading the effort, committing $1.5 billion to the project.
But federal funding from Washington has been delayed due to ongoing budget issues in Congress.
Through a statement, both SANDAG and Caltrans say they will continue to work together to make sure the port of entry gets done.
“This project is a priority for California and the region. We are very appreciative of the excellent progress that has been made on the Mexican side by SEDENA, SICT and all the relevant stakeholders. It is gratifying to see the physical progress on both sides of the border. On the U.S. side, we continue to negotiate the final details with the U.S. federal government. Once we have a finalized agreement with the U.S. federal government in place, we expect it to take two years to open Otay Mesa East.”
Back in November, Democratic Congressman Juan Vargas, who represents the area where the crossing is to be built, doubted the port of entry would be done in time, saying, “It would be the first time Mexico did something that we didn’t. It would be entirely and awfully embarrassing.”
State Route 11, a new state highway that will connect the new border crossing to San Diego’s network of freeways, is almost done.
The crossing itself is supposed to be complete by September.
