Donna Texas: Border Crossings Come in Many Forms

Nowadays, most Texas border crossing come in the form of bridges, such as the Alliance Intenational Bridge in Donna Texas or the Laredo Bridges, boasting bridges that can be considered as construction marvels, huge and modern. It is interesting to find other forms of border crossings as well.

• The Los Ebanos Ferry, formally known as the Los Ebanos-Diaz Ordaz Ferry, is a hand-operated cable ferry that travels across the Rio Grande between Los Ebanos, Texas and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas. It is the last of its kind along the entire stretch of the Rio Grande. There are also train ferries that are still operational sauch as the MV Bali Sea and the MV Banda Sea on the Gulf of Mexico. They carry reilway vehicles and are usually called car ferries, as distinguished from auto ferries used to transport automobiles.

• Falcon Dam is an earthen embankment dam on the Rio Grande between Starr County in the U.S. state of Texas and the city of Nueva Ciudad Guerrero in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The dam was built for water conservation, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and recreational purposes and as an international border crossing between Zapata and Starr Counties and Tamaulipas.

• The Nogales-Morley Gate in Arizona is open to pedestrians only.

• There are some rail crossings that are still operational. The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad has a very rich history, with the construction in the late 1880s. Today, many of the sections of the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad has closed down. Some are still in use, though mostly for freight only although a handful still has passenger transports.

With the advancement of construction techniques and technology, these border crossings are slowly being replaced by modern bridges, which are easier to manage, control and maintain. An example is the Alliance International Bridge, which is about 1,000 feet in length, yet having 4 lanes in each direction, a total of 8 lanes, that would surely ease the expected traffic between Mexico and Donna Texas.

Texas Manufacturing: Border Crossings and Economic Development

A group of communities around the Southwest are planning completely new and improved border crossings, hoping to bring in new Texas manufacturing jobs in their localities. A new bridge in El Paso County, Texas, could open in 2015. The challenge is demolishing an existing crossing and adding it into the new system -- the Guadalupe Tornillo International Bridge. In Nogales, Ariz., the Mariposa Land Port of Entry -- the principal port of entry for produce coming into the U.S. from Mexico -- is having a large $184 million reconfiguration that's slated to finish in 2014. And leaders in the San Diego area are planning a new freeway and port, the Otay Mesa East project, for 2015 which would cost as much as $700 million.

The hope is that a new crossing can spur commercial growth. American firms utilize low-cost workers in Mexican industrial facilities described as "maquilas" to manufacture textiles, electronic products together with automotive parts. Companies having maquilas will often have nearby corporate offices on the U.S. side, and warehousing along with trucking industries assist the circulation of products arriving north. Laredo, Texas -- the nearest U.S. crossing to Mexico’s commercial center of Monterrey -- hosts more than 1,000 logistics firms.

Over-crowding at border crossings could be a significant problem. Enhanced post-9/11 security measures have significantly increased wait times, and as more producers have moved to a just-in-time shipping and delivery model, backup on the road is often a serious problem. "That's why I think you're seeing so many bridges open up and border crossings open up," says Keith Patridge, president and CEO of the McAllen Economic Development Corp., whose organization is under contract together with the city to persuade organizations to locate to McAllen and Reynosa. "It's really being driven not necessarily by volumes of traffic but the speed at which the traffic needs to move.”

These areas believe that the investment and energy is going to be worth the effort: New crossings bring in new Texas manufacturing jobs new revenue.

Donna Texas: New International Bridge Spurns Plans for Other Border Crossings

With the opening of the Anzalduas International Bridge in Donna Texas, a group of communities throughout the Southwest are planning new and broadened border crossings. The Anzalduas International Bridge is the first new U.S.-Mexico line crossing in more than 10 years.

A new bridge in El Paso County, Texas, may perhaps open in 2015. The challenge is demolishing a present crossing and combining it into the new structure -- the Guadalupe Tornillo International Bridge. In Nogales, Ariz., the Mariposa Land Port of Entry -- the principal port of entry for produce coming into the U.S. out of Mexico -- is undergoing a huge $184 million reconfiguration that's planned for completion in 2014. And leaders in the San Diego area are planning a new freeway and port, the Otay Mesa East project, for 2015 that could cost about $700 million.

Most frequently, the financing for the crossings -- which traditionally encompass widened highways, expanded infrastructure and new inspection features -- comes from a mixture of local, state and federal money. However in all cases, local leaders perform an integral position in lobbying federal officers for the undertakings by seeking to convince the State Department to give the essential permits and encourage U.S. Customs and Border Protection to staff the sites.

These neighborhoods consider the investment and energy shall be worth the cost: Completely new crossings bring in new cash. In some instances, that means tolls. The bridge in Pharr, as an example, which will connects to the manufacturing center of Reynosa, Mexico, is anticipated to come up with $9.5 million in tolls this year. That could be almost as much as Pharr's property tax earnings and much more compared with its sales tax revenue. Basically one-half those funds are needed to operate the crossing; the remainder would flow to city coffers.

With the new possibilities now wide open with the opening of the Anzalduas International Bridge, other localities are taking the example set by Donna Texas.

Hidalgo County: International Bridge Makes Mexico-Texas Travel More Convenient

Donna, Texas, in Hidalgo County, a sleepy producing city of around 18,000 people, is possibly greatest recognized for the corn maze. The eight-acre farming appeal attracts family members from throughout the area. But without this, the majority of motorists alongside U.S. Route 83 -- the road that snakes the U.S.-Mexico edge in Texas -- might doubtless speed past the group with no second thought.Town market leaders here wish which will soon alter, thanks to the brand new multimillion dollar, eight-lane Alliance International Bridge over the Rio Grande, that opened in December. In case the bridge is really as common as area management foresee, it might change Donna in to a commercial center, getting much-needed work and funds as you go along.

For Donna -- in whose leaders at first started talking about a bridge fifty years ago -- the linkage over the water to Rio Bravo, Mexico, could be a game changer. Authorities imagine Donna being a hub for warehousing and delivery companies providing firms that transport products north all over the boundary.Those expectations are dependent mainly over a proposition by Rhodes Enterprises, a business that intends to grow, with the Alliance River Crossing Project, a lot more than $950 million to build up 900 acres of property all around the bridge.

Ernesto Silva, an advisor employed through the town, pronounces the expansion might almost multiple the city’s tax base. At the same time, Ken DeJarnett, director of improvement at Rhodes Enterprises, pronounces the task might increase Donna, yearly sales tax income to $36 million yearly -- it's presently around $1.5 million -- that will create 7,000 new jobs. That's almost how many operating age adults currently residing in the city.In the event that occurs, the chance of Donna, of Hidalgo County, whose poverty rate is 40 %, might be forever altered. "It will be a totally new town," says Silva, an old assistant city manager of nearby Pharr, Texas, that has a world bridge of their own. "These bridges are economic engines."

At any given time when political figures in Washington and state capitals are fiercely discussing the main topic of immigration, and the federal government has actually designed walls between  U.S. and Mexico, management in border cities and areas are progressively making it simpler to penetrate the nation. By turning into host to some land port connecting the U.S. and Mexico, a surrounding area wants to produce a useful hub for companies that help the worldwide transport of products -- and the procedure yield income from tolls and taxes on companies, home and purchasers.

The gamble can be risky. Even though state and federal cash purchased much of the development, Donna remains in the hook for around $28 million. And also the bridge, which opened that has a ceremony that included Mexican President Felipe Calderón, is originating on line when fewer people are making the trip between your two nations, among anxieties of drug cartel violence. Business traffic -- a requirement associated with a industrial improvement -- isn't yet permitted around the bridge, simply because U.S. Customs and Border Protection hasn't yet devoted to staff business inspection areas. Nevertheless, regardless of the hurdles, it's a opportunity Donna and the Hidalgo County is prepared to take.