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Port expansion project officially under way
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| Gov. Jan Brewer (second from right) joins Mexican and U.S. dignitaries in launching the port expansion project in Nogales, Ariz., on Thursday. Photo by Denise Holley |
By Denise Holley, Nogales International
Gov. Jan Brewer came to the Mariposa Port of Entry on Thursday to plant the seeds for a $213 million expansion of the port under the federal General Services Administration.
Under a tent at the port’s Arizona Department of Transportation facility, she and representatives from Sonora, Arizona and Washington, D.C., poured out thanks to each other for the project. Then they donned hard hats and dug shovels into a symbolic patch of dirt.
“This project will produce real benefits for people,” Brewer said. “After all, people are at the center of all trade.”
About 1,600 vehicles pass daily through the port, built 35 years ago to process about 400 vehicles a day, the governor said. When the expanded port is finished in 2014, it will be able to process 1,600 vehicles a day. Stimulus funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Long delays for vehicles to pass through the port are costly to shippers and discourage trade, Brewer said. “The competitiveness of the region depends on increasing trade.”
Her Mexican counterpart, Gov. Guillermo Padres Elias, of Sonora, lauded the “relationship of trust” between the two border states. He described the expanded port as “a model of security and efficiency” that will benefit both nations.
“This project has truly been a team effort,” said Nogales Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel. “Let this be an example to other communities.”
J.B. Manson, chairman of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, recalled discouraging trips when he met with members of Congress and heard the words, “not in the budget,” he said.
Manson commended Mexico for its plans to build a modern port facility on its side, rather than “move the bottleneck from one place to another,” he said.
Victor Mendez, administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, said, “This project is about relieving congestion and creating jobs.”
In the first phase of major earth-moving, contractor Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Phoenix will put more than 100 people to work, Mendez said.
The port expansion “will help us strike a proper balance between trade and travel and security,” said David Higgerson, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Under a tent at the port’s Arizona Department of Transportation facility, she and representatives from Sonora, Arizona and Washington, D.C., poured out thanks to each other for the project. Then they donned hard hats and dug shovels into a symbolic patch of dirt.
“This project will produce real benefits for people,” Brewer said. “After all, people are at the center of all trade.”
About 1,600 vehicles pass daily through the port, built 35 years ago to process about 400 vehicles a day, the governor said. When the expanded port is finished in 2014, it will be able to process 1,600 vehicles a day. Stimulus funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Long delays for vehicles to pass through the port are costly to shippers and discourage trade, Brewer said. “The competitiveness of the region depends on increasing trade.”
Her Mexican counterpart, Gov. Guillermo Padres Elias, of Sonora, lauded the “relationship of trust” between the two border states. He described the expanded port as “a model of security and efficiency” that will benefit both nations.
“This project has truly been a team effort,” said Nogales Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel. “Let this be an example to other communities.”
J.B. Manson, chairman of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, recalled discouraging trips when he met with members of Congress and heard the words, “not in the budget,” he said.
Manson commended Mexico for its plans to build a modern port facility on its side, rather than “move the bottleneck from one place to another,” he said.
Victor Mendez, administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, said, “This project is about relieving congestion and creating jobs.”
In the first phase of major earth-moving, contractor Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Phoenix will put more than 100 people to work, Mendez said.
The port expansion “will help us strike a proper balance between trade and travel and security,” said David Higgerson, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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