Mexico side of Tornillo-Guadalupe international bridge to be finished in August
After
three years of delays, the Mexican side of the Tornillo-Guadalupe
international bridge will finally be completed in August, Mexican
officials said.
Officials said that the new border crossing will not be operational until the end of the year when inspection facilities are built and a road connects the port of entry with a major highway running into the interior of Mexico.
The completion of the port of entry is about a month behind schedule. In late January, the U.S. Consulate in Juárez and the Mexican Consulate in El Paso said in a joint announcement that work on the Mexican side of the bridge was going to be finished in July.
Last week, the bridge project was a little more than 90 percent complete, according to the Mexican Department of Transport and Communications, or SCT.
"We are practically on schedule," said Efraín Olivares Lira, the general director of the SCT in Chihuahua. He said the bridge will be finished in mid-August.
Once complete, the 693-foot long structure will connect to the U.S. half of the six-lane bridge. The U.S. side was finished in the fall.
The first phase of a highway from the international bridge to Alameda Avenue in the El Paso County has also been completed.
El Paso County and state officials will have a meeting this week to inform the public about the second construction phase of the Manuel F. Aguilera Highway that will connect Interstate 10 to the new border crossing. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Rogelio Sanchez county building, 1331 N. Fabens in Fabens.
In contrast, the Mexican Tributary Administration Service, or SAT, which funds and oversees the construction of Mexican customs offices, still needs to build the inspection facilities. The project was supposed to be have been done by the first half of the year.
SAT officials in Mexico City did not reply Friday to email messages about the inspection facilities.
Also, SCT needs to build a road from the Chihuahua-Juárez highway — which extends to the interior of Mexico — to the new border crossing. The project will allow commercial traffic to bypass Juárez.
It will be similar to the road that connects the Chihuahua-Juárez highway to the Santa Teresa border crossing.
The first phase of the project will consist of building the roadway from the Tornillo-Guadalupe bridge to the Juárez-Porvenir road. A second phase will stretch the road about 20 miles to the Chihuahua-Juárez highway.
The project will be done by the state using federal funds. Construction of the first phase of the access road will cost up to 120 million pesos, or $9.6 million, according to the SCT.
Because some of the funds will come from Fonadin, SCT officials expect drivers to be charged a toll to use the road.
The agency, through the Chihuahua state government, has acquired the right of way for the land where the new road will be located, Olivares Lira said.
He said bids for the road project have already been launched and the selected bid for the projects will be announced in the next few days.
Mexican authorities estimate that the new port of entry will be ready for use by the end of 2014.
It is unclear which Mexican federal agency will be responsible of demolishing the current two-lane Fabens-Caseta bridge once the new bridge opens. The old bridge, which was built in 1938, is about 650 feet from the new crossing.
Mexico was supposed to begin construction of its side of the bridge two months after the July 2011 ground-breaking ceremony for the new port. Since then, Mexican officials changed the start date several times.
The SCT, which is responsible for the construction, blamed the delay on a lack of funding and on national elections that installed new leadership in late 2012.
Officials said that the new border crossing will not be operational until the end of the year when inspection facilities are built and a road connects the port of entry with a major highway running into the interior of Mexico.
The completion of the port of entry is about a month behind schedule. In late January, the U.S. Consulate in Juárez and the Mexican Consulate in El Paso said in a joint announcement that work on the Mexican side of the bridge was going to be finished in July.
Last week, the bridge project was a little more than 90 percent complete, according to the Mexican Department of Transport and Communications, or SCT.
"We are practically on schedule," said Efraín Olivares Lira, the general director of the SCT in Chihuahua. He said the bridge will be finished in mid-August.
Once complete, the 693-foot long structure will connect to the U.S. half of the six-lane bridge. The U.S. side was finished in the fall.
The first phase of a highway from the international bridge to Alameda Avenue in the El Paso County has also been completed.
El Paso County and state officials will have a meeting this week to inform the public about the second construction phase of the Manuel F. Aguilera Highway that will connect Interstate 10 to the new border crossing. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Rogelio Sanchez county building, 1331 N. Fabens in Fabens.
In contrast, the Mexican Tributary Administration Service, or SAT, which funds and oversees the construction of Mexican customs offices, still needs to build the inspection facilities. The project was supposed to be have been done by the first half of the year.
SAT officials in Mexico City did not reply Friday to email messages about the inspection facilities.
Also, SCT needs to build a road from the Chihuahua-Juárez highway — which extends to the interior of Mexico — to the new border crossing. The project will allow commercial traffic to bypass Juárez.
It will be similar to the road that connects the Chihuahua-Juárez highway to the Santa Teresa border crossing.
The first phase of the project will consist of building the roadway from the Tornillo-Guadalupe bridge to the Juárez-Porvenir road. A second phase will stretch the road about 20 miles to the Chihuahua-Juárez highway.
The project will be done by the state using federal funds. Construction of the first phase of the access road will cost up to 120 million pesos, or $9.6 million, according to the SCT.
Because some of the funds will come from Fonadin, SCT officials expect drivers to be charged a toll to use the road.
The agency, through the Chihuahua state government, has acquired the right of way for the land where the new road will be located, Olivares Lira said.
He said bids for the road project have already been launched and the selected bid for the projects will be announced in the next few days.
Mexican authorities estimate that the new port of entry will be ready for use by the end of 2014.
It is unclear which Mexican federal agency will be responsible of demolishing the current two-lane Fabens-Caseta bridge once the new bridge opens. The old bridge, which was built in 1938, is about 650 feet from the new crossing.
Mexico was supposed to begin construction of its side of the bridge two months after the July 2011 ground-breaking ceremony for the new port. Since then, Mexican officials changed the start date several times.
The SCT, which is responsible for the construction, blamed the delay on a lack of funding and on national elections that installed new leadership in late 2012.
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