Future Ports of Entry

By Isaiah Montoya

JoJohn Vega is President of International Operations for Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) in El Paso, and he has an idea, a vision if you will. The vision involves a massive new highway across the Sun City which he says would alleviate traffic from I-10.

Although Vega does work with Mexico on various deals, his main job is to intake shipments from Mexico. He believes the city is off target for potentially adding two toll lanes from the Americas Bridge. “Most El Pasoans and Mexicans will obviously take the free lanes, says Vega. “It does not make sense.”

He believes a highway starting between Fabens and Horizon City, through Ft. Bliss and to Anthony Gap would be a smart decision. How to pay for it he leaves heretofore unanswered. He says, “Loop 375 is not really a loop. We would have to work with Ft. Bliss. There’s no way around it.”

Another fact he likes is that the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, near El Paso, will receive $10 million in stimulus funds for infrastructure development.

The money was approved through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to enhance capacity at the Santa Teresa border crossing, located in New Mexico just west of El Paso.

The award will finance expansion of the port’s passenger vehicle lanes from two to five, and commercial inspection lanes from two to three.

Authorities will also add a pedestrian sidewalk and inspection areas, lighting, additional cameras and other nonintrusive inspection equipment, energy-efficient HVAC systems, a fence to protect against erosion from blowing sand and lower-water-use landscaping.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, said the improvements are critical to manage increased traffic through Santa Teresa.

“The upgrades ... will strengthen border security by helping the port manage growth, improve efficiency and increase safety along the border crossing,” Udall said in a news release.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, said the upgrades will help boost trade and economic growth.

“The funding awarded today is an investment in the area’s economic development,” Bingaman said.

The Santa Teresa Port of Entry is 42 miles south of New Mexico’s second largest city, Las Cruces, and 20 minutes from historic downtown El Paso, Texas. From the POE, Interstate 10 is an easy 12 miles down the modern Pete Domenici Highway, the newest borderland multi-lane transportation link.

With little congestion and short lines, Santa Teresa, via its sister port Jeronimo, is the premier driving route to southern Cd. Juarez, Cd. Chihuahua, and further into the interior of Mexico. Mexican travelers increasingly discover this port provides convenient and rapid access to New Mexico and the western United States.

Open daily for commercial, non-commercial, and pedestrian traffic, Santa Teresa is the newest port of entry on the US/Mexico border. The state-of-the art facilities were completed in 1997, replacing the original port, which opened in 1992.

Providing unique services, Santa Teresa is the only port in the region that processes most types of exported used vehicles destined for resale in Mexico.

Vega says, “It is great that the port is getting funds to expand!”

Hundreds of thousands of cattle cross each year making the port host to the largest import area for livestock on the Mexican border.

In addition, Customs and Border Protection officers from Santa Teresa process international aircraft operations at the nearby county airport and oversee the Doña Ana County Foreign Trade Zone at the Santa Teresa Industrial Park.