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.
