U.S. launches expansion of world's busiest land border crossing at Tijuana-San Diego

By Sandra Dibble and Janine Zuniga
San Diego Union-Tribune

Long lines and lengthy waits have become an inescapable burden for tens of thousands of cross-border commuters at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Proposing to dramatically decrease crossing times for both vehicles and pedestrians, authorities Thursday formally launched a $577 million expansion and modernization of the world’s busiest land-border crossing.

Wait times during peak hours can currently stretch to more than two hours, and a 2009 study by the U.S. General Services Administration showed that if nothing is done, those waits could stretch to 10 hours by 2030.

Planned for completion by 2016, the new facility would reduce maximum waits to 30 minutes, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Added lanes, more booths and high-tech inspections are at the heart of the overhaul. It is the largest and costliest infrastructure project the U.S. government has ever undertaken along its land border.

“The need for a new facility is clear, and the stakes are high,” said Martha Johnson, administrator of the GSA. Over the next two decades, she said, traffic through the San Ysidro port is expected to increase by as much as 90 percent.

www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/24/rebuilt-border-crossing-aims-speed-traffic/