SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- With the opening of the Otay Mesa II Port of Entry behind schedule on the U.S. side of the border, Baja California officials are wondering if a partial opening, in a southbound direction, is possible.
During her weekly news conference, Baja Gov. Maria del Pilar Ávila Olmeda floated the possibility of allowing only commercial trucks to cross the border from California into Mexico through this facility until the entire project is finished in the years ahead. She is hoping U.S. officials find a way to make this possible.
The new port of entry was supposed to be ready by September. While most of the work on the Mexico side is proceeding as planned, construction on the north side of the border has yet to begin and is said to be two years behind schedule.
Arturo Espinoza Jaramillo, secretary of Infrastructure and Urban Development with the State of Baja California, said they are looking into using existing roadways to grant access to trucks on their way into Mexico.
State Route 11, built by the California Department of Transportation, is pretty much done. The roadway connects the new port of entry with the rest of San Diego's roadway system.
Otay Mesa II has been planned as a toll crossing where people would pay to cross the border in both directions. It would serve commercial trucks as well as passenger cars.
"There are possibilities of using it as long as the United States agrees," Espinoza Jaramillo said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it has yet to find the personnel to operate the new facility.
Kenia Zamarripa, vice president of international and public affairs with the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, told the El Sol Newspaper of Tijuana that it's complicated to just open in a southbound direction as it would necessitate infrastructure on the U.S. side currently not available.
"It's not as easy as it sounds, I don't see how it can open when Mexico finishes its side of the crossing," said Zamarripa.