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The road to El Chaparral port of entry...

Photo credits to Sandra Dibble | San Diego Union Tribune

well, it looks better than I thought it would. The USA side really dropped the budget ball on this project. An almost 90 degree turn into 5 lanes in a trough is it huh? Not sure I'll like the feeling of driving down that no-shoulder road of no return. We'll see sooon enough I suppose.

Almost reminds me of the set on Death Race...

A good video showing the route...

Here's a map of the new temporary road. It will take effect on 1 November 2012.

Interstate 5 was supposed to have been diverted a bit to the west, into the area called El Chaparral, in 2009, so Mexico built its part of the roadway in 2011–12.

The budgetary shortfall is probably a pretext, however. Local opinion in San Ysidro has been criticizing the GSA for its barbaric misuse of public land for ten years now and it looks like the GSA has been temporizing in the hope that their Sanysidran critics would run out of steam. Not likely to happen -- the critics have been getting more vocal over time.

The pedestrian entrance changed on 24 September 2012. It is now an eerie narrow ramp alongside the railroad tracks. In the master-plan, this is really the secondary pedestrian entrance -- the primary one will be at El Chaparral -- but it's the only pedestrian entrance for the time being. Very congested on Friday evenings.

So the 90° turn as the cars enter Tijuana is meant to be a temporary solution. There is a straight shot in the offing. And the present pedestrian entrance is meant to be merely an accommodation for those of us who live in Colonia Libertad; the main entrance will be close by the Plaza de las Américas shopping mall and will serve as the northern terminus of mass transit in Tijuana. And that will happen whenever the GSA decides to stop dictating urban design.

From the video I can see a few very sharp turns that will be a problem. The next potential problem is if Mexico decides not to keep all the gates open. And the third problem (at least as it appears on the video) is another possible bottleneck exiting Chaparral.

If nothing else, this will certainly be interesting. We'll see once we make our next trip north...

I drove through at 7pm tonight. Not good. You make a 90 degree right turn with a 10 foot turn radius. This maneuver is too tough for the people who make this drive. Six lanes turn right but most cars ended up in the three left lanes no matter which lane they started from (it's hard to turn the steering wheel that many times fast with the phone and a drink in your hands). This is going to be fender bender central and a parking lot while people park to exchange insurance info. The alley of death...

Originally Posted by Woooosh

...The alley of death...

See? My Death Race Youtube analogy wasn't far off...

I have driven through the new crossing three times now. I actually prefer the bottle neck on the US side for the ease on the Mexico side. Once they get the border/international road finished it will be really nice. I always hated having to merge with the traffic coming up from the right ramp as soon as you got into Mexico in order to get on the bridge that took you to the toll road. Mexico scores big points for the new crossing! It will be a reason for a celebration when the whole border construction is over!

Anyone know where you go to get your turista visa now? Is there a new office or do you have to somehow back-track to the other entrance? I know there are services to get it stateside, but I'm leaving tomkorrow morning so no time for that. I have a feeling I'm gonna get really confused...I hate driving with a trailer in an unknown maze! Dead-ends and tight-radius turns are no fun.

Any info appreciated!!

Originally Posted by fourbi4rox

...I hate driving with a trailer in an unknown maze! Dead-ends and tight-radius turns are no fun.

You won't have any problems like that here. Lots of room everywhere. The tightest turn is the first right, right by the old entrance. That takes you west only a few hundred yards to the new entrance. Lots of people in the street directing traffic.
When you pull out of the inspection area, stay to the right and follow the sign to Playas. That exit road will put you right on the fence road we've used for years.
Be careful where those two roads merge. There's roadwork right there and if traffic is heavy on the fence road, you'll have to merge with caution.


Here's Bruce Leech's video from BajaNomad:

New border crossing into Tijauna Mexico - YouTube

Thanks for the info.

How about the Visa? Is there another immigracion office at the new entrance??

Originally Posted by fourbi4rox

Thanks for the info.

How about the Visa? Is there another immigracion office at the new entrance??

I don't know. I thought I saw a bank office open, but I wasn't concerned with a visa.


If no one here can answer that...post the question on BajaNomad. Someone there will know.

I was told that the visa office is now open and operating at the new El Chaparral crossing.

Aren't they planning on changing the Southbound I-5 lanes to Northbound lanes? I believe they will then be moving the current I-5 South lanes eastwards, so that the 90 degree turn and ensuing 'alley' won't be as pronounced as it is today.

Has anyone else heard? Construction has been ongoing for two years now and there are a couple of more years' construction planned. ..

Originally Posted by bwall

Aren't they planning on changing the Southbound I-5 lanes to Northbound lanes? I believe they will then be moving the current I-5 South lanes eastwards, so that the 90 degree turn and ensuing 'alley' won't be as pronounced as it is today.

"They" would be the US, but under the current circumstances, I doubt our government is in the mood to be cooperative....fiscal cliff crap and all.

I don't think the USA had the re-alignment project budgeted for 2012. When completed, I believe that long alley will be gone and you will enter El Chaparral head on. Not sure how Mexico got so far ahead and they had several long bridges to build across the Tijuana river channel. I doubt the USA is dragging it's feet on purpose, I think the budget was mismatched to the project time line. The quicker they get this done, the quicker Mexicans can stop claiming we're doing it on purpose to keep our dollars up north.

I agree - there is no "evil plot" behind the construction delays. It's the reality of decades of gross overspending by government. They are simply running out of ways to continue to pay for all this stuff and I suspect we will only see more of this in the near future...