By Ana Gomez Salcido
The U.S. Department of Transportation is slated to award SANDAG and Caltrans $49.2 million to complete Segment 2 of State Route 11 (SR11) in Otay Mesa along with two southbound connectors linking SR 905, SR 125, and SR 11.
This border infrastructure project is critical to facilitating the growing volume of trade between the United States and Mexico, and alleviating chronic congestion along the San Diego-Tijuana border. SR 11 will eventually connect to Otay Mesa East, a new state-of-the-art border crossing. The goal is to operate this port of entry (POE) with a 20-minute border wait time to reach primary inspection.
SANDAG and Caltrans, which are leading the effort to build the SR 11 Otay Mesa East Port of Entry Project, garnered the funding through a highly competitive grant application process under the FASTLANE program. In order to qualify for FASTLANE funding, projects must provide nationally significant freight and highway enhancements. The FASTLANE allocation is slated to become final after 60 days. The SR 11 project is the only California project to be awarded a FASTLANE grant in this round of funding.
“This FASTLANE grant is a major boost to our region’s effort to build a modern system of border infrastructure to meet the needs of the California-Baja California mega region,” said SANDAG Board Chair and County Board of Supervisors Chair Ron Roberts. “These investments in roadways – and in the future port of entry – will provide enormous dividends not just to our economy, but also to our environment. Reducing border congestion will help cut air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with idling vehicles waiting to cross the border.”
Currently, all border crossings in the San Diego region are congested. Border delays cost the U.S. and Mexican economies an estimated $7.2 billion in gross economic output (value of goods and services produced) and more than 62,000 jobs each year, according to a 2007 SANDAG study. The SR 11 Otay Mesa East Port of Entry Project, which will serve both commercial and personal vehicles, is designed to address that problem.
SR 11, a four-lane highway, is a key component of the planned Otay Mesa East Port of Entry, as it will serve as the dedicated roadway to access the new Otay Mesa East POE. When SR 11 is completed, it will operate as a tolled facility, providing border travelers the ability to get to the border more quickly by paying a fee.
“State Route 11 and the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry Project is truly a partnership effort. Caltrans, the San Diego Association of Governments, the Federal Highway Administration, as well as our counterparts in Mexico are working to make this improved trade corridor a reality,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.
The SR 11 Otay Mesa East Project is the result of collaboration by a number of key local, state, and federal agencies in both the United States and Mexico, including the General Services Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, Mexico’s Secretary of Communications and Transportation.