YUMA, Ariz. — There's a major plan to upgrade the San Luis port of entry in southern Arizona.
The Biden administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make it the biggest border crossing station in the state.
The plan is to redo all of the San Luis station. Some parts of the port are 40 years old. Others, like the pedestrian lanes, are only five years old, but the traffic has increased so much in that five years that they already need more space.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: La garita de San Luis crecerá
Billions of dollars come across the border every year. A bigger port of entry should let even more come across.
Elected officials commemorated the expansion Tuesday with a ceremony near the Arizona-Mexico border.
“This modernization and expansion project will drastically improve efficiencies at the port of entry, including reducing waiting wait times and deploying the latest technology to identify high-risk activity like drug trafficking," said Gov Katie Hobbs.
"It connects our state with our leading trade partner in Mexico, supporting everything from local agriculture and retail. To our manufacturing industries," Sen. Mark Kelly said during Tuesday's ceremony.
The new port of entry will have a bigger pedestrian entry, and they’ll expand the vehicle entry from eight lanes to 16 lanes coming into the United States.
The Border Patrol estimates seven million people cross here yearly, and they can have 90-minute wait times to get across.
"This is not just good for our local economy. This is going to be great for the global economy. This will be here forever," said San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel.
This project comes from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It will cost over $300 million and take about five years to complete.
The project will make San Luis the biggest port of entry in Arizona - bigger than Nogales.
“The long-awaited modernization of the San Luis port of entry is a big deal. It really is," Kelly added.
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