Mayor of San Luis R.C. seeks new border crossing
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Motorists crossing from this city to San Luis Rio Colorado, Son. would pass through a new gate located one block west of the current crossing, under a proposal made by the Mexican border city’s mayor.
They would then follow an underground tunnel to cross Obregon Avenue, the Mexican city’s main east-west arterial street. The entry now used by cars entering Mexico would become a crossing for pedestrians, who would likewise follow a tunnel beneath and across Obregon.
San Luis Rio Colorado Mayor Enrique Reina recently presented his proposal to mayors from around Yuma County, with whom Reina’s administra-
tion has been working to find ways to ease the traffic congestion occurring at the border as growing numbers of vehicles travel between the two countries.
The proposal is still in the conceptual stage and Reina has yet to seek a commitment from Mexico’s federal government to pay for the new crossing.
In an interview with Tribuna newspaper in San Luis Rio Colorado, he said his administration is preparing studies it hopes to present to federal officials this year as part of a formal request for funding. He hopes the project can be completed within five years.
Reina’s goal is to alleviate the congestion by diverting vehicles arriving from the United States away from those traveling on Obregon, which is part of the Mexico’s Federal Highway 2.
At present, Mexicobound traffic follows Archibald Street south through San Luis, Ariz., then turns onto Main and passes through the Mexican port of entry and onto First Street in San Luis Rio Colorado. First Street intersects with Obregon, where bottlenecks occur.
Under Reina’s plan, Archibald would be extended farther south, across what is now Amistad Park in San Luis, Ariz., to the border fence, where the new gate would lead cars onto Morelos Street.
From there, cars could turn west onto Obregon or continue south on Morelos, passing beneath Obregon on the way to Juarez, Hidalgo or Kino avenues in the city’s downtown.
Reina also proposes that lanes for U.S.-bound traffic be opened on the east side of San Luis I, the U.S. port of entry, in the area where tractor-trailers and other commercial traffic arriving from Mexico used to be processed by U.S. inspectors.
Tadeo De La Hoya, the city administrator for San Luis, Ariz., who sat in when Reina presented his proposal, said the plan would have minimal or no impact on existing traffic patterns on the U.S. side.
Reina’s proposal comes as Yuma County officials lobby the federal government for funds to expand and modernize San Luis I to handle traffic from Mexico, which has grown steadily in the decades since that port was built in the 1980s.
A year ago the Trump administration included $232 million for San Luis I improvements in its federal budget proposal. While Congress did not appropriate the funding, the General Service Administration is at work on a new, expanded pedestrian crossing area at the port.
Yuma County sees port modernization as crucial to efforts to forge closer economic ties with Mexico, and De La Hoya said they will continue to seek funding.
San Luis, Ariz., has a second border crossing on the city’s east side, opened in 2010 to handle commercial traffic only. City officials have also appealed to the federal government to convert San Luis II as a dual-use port for private vehicles as well as tractortrailers, as a short-term solution to congestion.