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San Ysidro border project could be delayed by lack of funding

By EDWARD SIFUENTES | North County Times
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 5:30 am

Completion of the $577 million San Ysidro Port of Entry renovation could be delayed unless Congress allocates more money to finish the project, officials said during a state Assembly committee hearing held last week in San Diego.

Traffic delays at the border and an aging infrastructure have cost the region billions of dollars in international commerce, business leaders and regional planners.

The renovation project would allow vehicle and pedestrian traffic to flow more easily through the border between Mexico and the United States at San Ysidro.

Business groups say completion of the project is important to boost the region's economy.

The first phase of the project, which includes increasing the number of northbound inspection booths from 24 to 62 and costs $292 million, was funded by Congress in previous years.

However, no money has been allocated for the project's second and third phases, which include a new customs administration building and a new pedestrian processing facility, as well as moving the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 further west to connect with Tijuana roads.

That puts the 2016 completion date in jeopardy, said Abdee Gharavi, director of the U.S. General Services Administration's land ports of entry program. The agency is responsible for building and maintaining federal government facilities.

"The federal budget environment has cast a shadow on our ability to maintain this project's projected time line," Gharavi said.

Gharavi was one of several officials who spoke at a hearing of the Assembly's California-Mexico Bi-National Affairs committee headed by Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, Friday afternoon in San Diego. The hearing focused primarily on border infrastructure, international commerce and environmental problems at the border.

Congress did not set aside money for the project in its 2011 budget, nor is it likely to provide funding in its 2012 budget, Gharavi said.

"Although the Senate has not acted yet, the House has authorized zero dollars for GSA's construction program in 2012," Gharavi said.

Other border ports of entry improvement projects in Otay Mesa and Calexico face similar funding problems.

"If this trend continues, the projects originally slated for 2013 or later will have to compete with a backlog of projects that did not receive funding in 2011 or 2012," Gharavi said.

The San Ysidro Port of Entry was built in the 1970s and is in dire need of renovation to cope not only with the increased traffic but new security measures put in place since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officials say. New security measures and more traffic have increased border waits up to three hours during peak times.

When completed, the new San Ysidro border crossing is expected to reduce wait times to about a half an hour, according to GSA officials.

Border delays and the outdated infrastructure have cost the region billions of dollars in international commerce, according to the San Diego Association of Governments, the region's chief planning agency. In a 2007 study, SANDAG reported that congestion cost the region about $7.2 billion in economic losses each year.

Every day, an estimated 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians cross the border at San Ysidro each way. Many of them are workers with jobs in San Diego County but who live in Tijuana, and consumers who patronize San Diego businesses.

Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, told the committee that not only are potential customers staying home in Tijuana instead of coming to San Diego because of the long border waits, but international companies in Baja California are having problems connecting with U.S. businesses for supplies for the same reason.

"What is hindering trade between California and Mexico?" Teran asked. "I think the answer is very clear, it's lack of border infrastructure."

Mexico is California's No. 1 trading partner, said Laurie Berman, district director for the California Department of Transportation. A total of $54 billion worth of goods was traded between Mexico and California in 2010, Berman said.

Hueso and other members of the committee said they would like to explore other ways to pay for border infrastructure projects, such as roads leading to the ports of entry, including public-private partnerships, in which both public and private funds are used to pay for construction.


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Fine. Just another example of how certain folks in congress are willing to trash the US economy because of some weird relationship with Grover Norquist, whoever he actually is.

Who is Grover Norquist?

That was actually a rhetorical statement.

I know who he is; what he is.

Born with a silver spoon. His father was an exec with Polaroid. He first got involved in politics during the Nixon years.

Still, it doesn't make me feel like not puking. He just doesn't seem to give a raton's culo about the average American.