SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — About two years ago, a significant milestone was achieved with the construction of Highway 11, a crucial link connecting a planned port of entry to San Diego’s extensive roadway network.
However, the Otay Mesa II border crossing has yet to be built and is now more than two years behind schedule causing significant delays and inconvenience.
Money issues, agreements with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and design flaws have been blamed for delays.
An updated configuration has made a portion of Highway 11 obsolete, and crews have been tearing up a quarter mile of the 225-foot-wide roadway.
Trucks can be seen zigzagging their way, hauling and dumping the rubble.
Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, is grappling with the complexity of determining the original cost of that stretch of roadway when it was built.
According to a contractor interviewed by Border Report, the cost of the project, depending on the thickness of the concrete and the amount of rebar used, is estimated to be at least $10 million dollars.
The work to tear up the roadway is roughly $4 million, part of a $13 million contract awarded by Caltrans to a contractor doing groundwork at the site.
Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, has not provided details on the extent of the work, but has stated that the demolition is a necessary step “to facilitate the construction of the facility when it starts.”
According to the San Diego Association of Governments, SANDAG, which oversees the port of entry’s construction, the work is supposed to break ground in the fall of this year.
The new crossing, which will be a toll facility in both directions, will be ready by the end of 2027, according to the plan.
It was supposed to be done last year.
The Mexican government finished its side on time and has been waiting for the U.S. to finish the project.
At this point, the exact cost of the remaining work, particularly the new concrete for the roadway, is uncertain.
A worker with RJ Willert, the subcontractor doing the demolition, said money is being saved by bringing in a grinder that will reduce the rubble to a sandy material. This material will be used to raise the ground or fill in holes, providing a level surface to build on.
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