WORK BEGINS ON NEW HIGHWAY PROJECT TO CUT BORDER WAIT TIMES, IMPROVE CROSS BORDER COMMERCE

December 10, 2013 (Otay) – Elected officials and business leaders from the U.S. and Mexico will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today on a new state highway project aimed at reducing border wait times and improving cross-border commerce.  State Route 11  will be a four-lane highway connecting a planned port of entry, Otay Mesa East, to the state highway system.

The 2.5-mile project will be built in three segments. The $112 million Segment 1, starting construction now, will include connectors to SR 905, plus a stretch of new highway from SR 905 east to Enrico Fermi Drive. Segments planned for the future will extend the highway to the border and create a new border crossing.

Future plans call for toll roads approaching the border crossing both north and south of the border – allowing travelers the opportunity to pay a fee to get to the border more quickly, drastically reducing the lengthy wait times they currently endure.

Officials in attendance at the groundbreaking will include Consul General of the United States in Tijuana Andrew Erickson, Consul General of Mexico in San Diego Remedios Gomez0-Arnau, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Supervisor Greg Cox, SANDAG Chairman Jack Dale, Caltrans District 11 Director Laurie Berman, Federal Highway Administration Associate Division Administrator Rick Backlund, and Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Alejandra Mier y Teran, and others.