Border crews clear land
Work has begun on razing and widening a swath on protected federal lands near the Arizona Trail to prepare for border wall construction.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency overseeing the planning and construction of physical barriers along the Arizona-Mexico border, said work has begun to raze and widen a large swath of protected land within a national park to prepare for border wall construction.
CBP released more details about the project and its effect on the Coronado National Memorial and the popular hiking route known as the Arizona Trail. The information was provided in response to an Arizona Republic request for information about the construction timeline.
The existing patrol road will be widened within an area known as the Roosevelt Reservation, a strip of federally owned land that runs parallel to the border and extends 60 feet to the north.
“In addition, the construction contractor will be clearing and grading a border enforcement road on the border in areas along the border where no road currently exists,” CBP said. “Following the improvements and construction of the patrol roads, trenching and installation of the new border wall will begin.”
The border agency said crews with Southwest Valley Constructors, an affiliate of the Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Corporation, began “widening and improving the existing patrol road” to the east and west of the 4,750-acre national park.
The Coronado National Memorial includes flat areas of the San Pedro Valley at the base of the Huachuca Mountains and the southern part of the mountain range itself, before it crosses into Mexico. The area is rugged and pristine.
“Due to the steep terrain on both the east and west sides of the Coronado National Memorial, a construction access and patrol road will be constructed with switch backs to allow for larger construction equipment to traverse the project area,” Customs and Border Protection said.
The work is expected to be finished sometime in 2020, but the agency did not provide a more specific completion date.
Construction in areas that previously didn’t have any roads concerns conservationists including Matthew Nelson, executive director for the Arizona Trail Association.
The group manages the 800-mile long route. The southern trailhead begins at Border Monument 102, an area that has now been closed to the public for pre-construction activities.
He’s worried about long-term scenic and recreational impact of access roads to the Memorial and the trail.
“That impact will be equal to, if not more significant that the border wall or the border road itself,” Nelson said. “Knowing the topography of the Hua
“A construction access and patrol road will be constructed with switch backs to allow for larger construction equipment to traverse the project area.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
chuca Mountains, there is a reason that the Arizona Trail goes down Yaqui Ridge, because in order to build a sustainable path from Montezuma Pass to the border, you have to go down Yaqui Ridge.”
Customs and Border Protection officials said they’re aware of the significance of the project and that the agency is “committed to minimizing impact” on the Arizona Trail.
The agency said officials are talking with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which awarded the border wall contract to Southwest Valley Constructors, about how to improve the trailhead once construction ends. It did not disclose more information about what those plans could look like.
CBP also said officials have instructed the border wall contractor to use a list of best practices to limit the impact on the surrounding areas. They include guidance on issues such as the removal and disposal of hazardous waste such as fuels and oils along with requiring construction vehicles to stay on designated roads.
Nelson said, “Even with some of these mitigation efforts that are currently in place to protect some natural and cultural resources, the long-term impacts to scenery and recreational resources and how people will use this landscape, those have still not been addressed. And I think they are incredibly important.”
Crews closed off access to the southern two miles of the Arizona Trail July 13. Customs and Border Protection said those are the only areas within the Coronado National Memorial that will be closed to the public during construction.
The agency, along with the National Park Service, put up signs near the closure and added information to the park’s website as well. The park’s law enforcement rangers will enforce the closure, CBP said.
Construction of the steel bollard fencing on the Coronado National Memorial is part of a larger effort to build 137 miles of physical barriers along U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, which includes Cochise, Santa Cruz and Pima counties.
The Army Corps of Engineers awarded Southwest Valley Constructors nearly $1.2 billion to build these barriers, according to their contract announcements.