I-19 checkpoint upgrade delayed

Special to the Green Valley News

Work on the interim Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19 north of Tubac will be delayed because construction permits have yet to be issued.

John Fitzpatrick, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector Division chief, said last week that he expected work to begin “early this summer.” He later said he had received incorrect information and now doesn’t know when construction will begin.

The northbound checkpoint between Tubac and Amado is scheduled for a $1.4 million upgrade that will include a third traffic lane and a canopy to protect against the elements.

The project is awaiting permits from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

“We have been working with the Border Patrol on this,” ADOT spokeswoman Linda Ritter said last week. “They have submitted plans. ADOT has reviewed the plans, made comments and submitted these to the Border Patrol. ADOT is now waiting to receive a revised plan from the Border Patrol.”

She said the process should take “perhaps a couple months or more; however, an environmental clearance is needed and that may extend the time somewhat to grant the permit and allow the Border Patrol to move forward.”

Fitzpatrick said May 8 that the environmental clearance is completed and “the package” of materials would be sent to ADOT soon.

Neither Ritter nor Fitzpatrick could say when the required permits will be issued.

No contract has been awarded for the construction work, and Fitzpatrick said that bids for the project will be solicited through advertisements after the ADOT permits are issued to the Border Patrol.

“If I could give you an exact time when the work would start, I would tell you,” he said.

Once the construction work starts, delays at the checkpoint will grow.

The interim checkpoint is between two interchanges, Chavez Siding on the south and Agua Linda on the north. In addition to the third lane and the canopy, a building will be put up on the east side for office activities and for computer links.

How this work will affect motorists isn’t clear but Fitzpatrick said when the canopy is in place, “that will involve traffic diversions.” Fitzpatrick said he believes drivers will be given advance warning by mobile highway signs and the media will receive announcements.

The interim checkpoint, “will be a safer environment for the traveling public and for our agents,” he said. “All our agents will be consolidated in one new area and we won’t have to fracture our operations.”

A permanent checkpoint complex, to cost about $27 million, is also planned by the Border Patrol. Fitzpatrick said the agency is waiting for the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the effectiveness of checkpoints across the United States. He’s been told it may come out “the end of June or the first part of July.”

The permanent checkpoint will be larger, with about 10 buildings on 25 acres of land about one kilometer south of the interim checkpoint. Six to eight lanes are to be constructed to take vehicles through the inspection area.

The agency has had a temporary checkpoint at the Agua Linda northbound exit of I-19 for more than three years. There, agents stop most vehicles and ask some, but not all, travelers for citizenship verification, watch for smuggled drugs and for illegal entrants.