Our Two Pesos: Time to Make the San Diego-Tijuana Crossborder Airport Terminal a Reality

US-Mexico Border & Tijuana's Airport (TIJ)

For those keeping up on border infrastructure issues in the California-Baja California region, some quiet progress has been happening that could dramatically shape the future of the binational sister cities of Tijuana and San Diego.  On July 23, the U.S. State Department issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) [link] for Otay-Tijuana Venture, LLC’s proposed crossborder airport terminal — followed even more quickly than some (including ourselves) could imagine with the issuance on August 4 (only hours ago, as of this writing) by Secretary of State Clinton of the Presidential Permit required to authorize moving forward on the project [link to announcement].

While many may not be familiar with this project, the concept has been discussed at various governmental levels (and various levels of interest) since at least 1991 — the year that Mexico’s Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA) proposed an expansion of Tijuana’s International Airport (TIJ) that included two runways and a US terminal in Otay Mesa. More recently, a local economic development organization, the South County Economic Development Council (SCEDC), has championed the concept, resulting in a positive preliminary study in 2007-2008 by the San Diego Airport Authority. Our own firm, in fact, included questions about the crossborder terminal concept in our own at-border surveys for several years — a few results of which are presented at bottom — finding that over one-third of San Diego residents that crossed the border had flown out of TIJ at least once within the last year.

Our Two Pesos: $50.2 Million in USDOT TIGER Grants for Border Crossing Infrastructure….Thanks. Gracias. Más?

Today, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $1.5 billion in funds for the Department’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Grants — targeting 51 “high-priority, innovative transportation projects” around the United States. These are projects that were funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and competed against nearly 1,400 total transportation-related project submissions.

Of the 51 projects that were announced today as receiving FY2009 funds, two specifically are for improving border crossing infrastructure: $30 million toward a $79 million project to replace the Black River Bridge (connecting Port Huron, Michigan, with Canada); and $20.2 million toward the nearly $450 million project to construct the new SR-905 freeway connecting San Diego (and Otay Mesa) with Tijuana, Baja California….[read more]

Crossborder Quoted in L.A. Times: Border Waits “Add Another Brake to the Cross-border Economic Engine”

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-crossing25-2009nov25,0,3756431.story?track=rss

Reporter Rich Marosi of the L.A. Times did a great job in this November 2009 article covering the implementation (and impacts) of Mexico’s new inspection system for southbound vehicles along the U.S.-Mexico border.  Crossborder’s President also got a good quote in — to highlight the likely economic implications (and the need for more infrastructure investment at our borders).

Recent Southbound Border Wait into Mexico