EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The commercial cargo lanes will continue to operate indefinitely at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo, Texas, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said on Friday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection informed local government and border industry stakeholders Thursday of its decision to continue truck inspections beyond a stated March 31 deadline to reach a daily traffic volume of 200 trucks a day, Samaniego told Border Report.
Only 50 or so trucks are coming across the port every day, but traffic has been increasing. Also, the prospect of bottlenecks due to the expected closing of commercial lanes at the Bridge of the Americas due to future renovations factored into the decision, the judge said.
“It’s exciting news that is going to help us with the pollution in (South-Central El Paso) and a much better flow of semis going east. Forty-eight percent of our commercial traffic goes (east) to Texas,” Samaniego said, so there’s no need for those trucks to go through the urban sprawl.
A CBP official on Friday confirmed to Border Report officers will continue to inspect trucks at the Marcelino Serna facility past March 31.
Across the border in Juarez, manufacturing executives and trucking industry leaders also celebrated CBP’s decision.
A sign welcomes visitors to the Marcelino Serna port of entry in Tornillo, Texas, in El Paso County.
Manuel Sotelo, the head of a major trucking association, told El Diario the Tornillo port now has become a permanent option for cross-border commercial cargo.
And Thor Salayandia, vice president of Mexico’s National Chamber of Industry, said the certainty regarding an additional truck crossing in the region could bring more investment.
Samaniego said the commitment by Mexican stakeholders to using the port in the future weighed heavily on CBP’s decision.
“What Mexico has done is amazing. They have a four-lane highway, they’re doing everything to maintain safety. On our side, I’ve been talking to investors because we need a storage facility, warehouses where you can transfer what Mexican trucks bring in onto American trucks. We still have a ways to go,” he said.
Still, Far East El Paso county could see a surge in commercial development once more trucks come in, spurring the need for service stations, convenience stores, restaurants and hotels,” he said.
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