2 years after groundbreaking, project to build new US-Mexico border crossing is stalled

2 years after groundbreaking, project to build new US-Mexico border crossing is stalled

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Date: Tuesday, 4-Jun-2013 10:10:22

TORNILLO, Texas — Jesse Grado walks cautiously past a welder whose work throws off a spray of brilliant sparks as construction crews lay slabs of concrete for a bridge over the Rio Grande. The leader of the project points to an empty void — the point where the six-lane span abruptly ends 30 feet above the river. Beyond the pavement is nothing but miles of Mexican farms, dirt and desert. By June, this was supposed to be the site of a massive new customs-and-immigration facility that would provide a fourth international border crossing to handle U.S.-bound commercial traffic from Ciudad Juarez, one of North America’s biggest manufacturing hubs. Planners had hoped the $96 million undertaking would be an economic boon, attracting manufacturing plants and long lines of trucks that currently use two congested crossings between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. But nearly two years after a ceremonial groundbreaking, not a shovel of dirt has been moved south of the border. The Mexican government has not allocated any money for its share of the work, so the bridge building is stalled — with no timetable for completion. In the meantime, truckers say they won’t be lured away from the established crossings until this remote farmland draws more industry. That could take years. “To me, it does not make any sense,” said Manuel Sotelo, truck company owner and president of the Ciudad Juarez freight truck association. “It’s one of those projects made by someone at a desk in Washington.” Truckers hauling cargo from Ciudad Juarez say using the bridge would require them to make an hour-long drive east to the new crossing then spend another hour traveling back to cargo terminals in El Paso, Texas, to unload. So far, the border community of Tornillo has secured no agreements with industry. For now, it offers little but fields of cotton and alfalfa. The scene is similar across the river in the tiny town of Guadalupe, Mexico. Still, local officials hope that by building the crossing first, commercial traffic will come later. They cite the success at the Santa Teresa port of entry, which was built 20 years ago in New Mexico in a similarly remote area. About 15 years after the crossing opened, a huge industrial park that houses manufacturing giant Foxconn was built a few hundred yards from the inspection stations. It has since attracted more businesses. Once the infrastructure is complete, they’ll have to take a fresh look at this,” said Vince Perez, an El Paso County commissioner representing the district where the bridge is being built. “A port of entry is a once-in-a-lifetime project.” The two farming communities have been pushing for the Tornillo-Guadalupe international bridge for the last 16 years to replace a 1920s-era wooden bridge. Once the new span is finished, the federal government plans to transfer customs and immigration personnel to the adjoining 117-acre complex. In July 2011, American and Mexican officials showed up with golden shovels and delivered speeches about the promising future for the surrounding communities. Cesar Duarte, governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, pledged that construction would start two months later. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2-years-after-groundbreaking-project-to-build-new-us-mexico-border-crossing-is-stalled/2013/06/03/84e140aa-cc2b-11e2-8573-3baeea6a2647_story.html