U.S. General Services Administration
GSA Reaches Major Milestone in I-5 Realignment Project in San Ysidro
By Javier Fernandez
On June 11, early morning commuters en route to Tijuana were greeted with four new additional vehicle lanes, bringing the total number of lanes at the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry (LPOE) to 10. The opening of these new lanes marked the achievement of a major milestone in the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) port modernization and expansion project at the busiest land border crossing facility in the Western Hemisphere. The I-5 realignment project sought to double the number of southbound lanes. Now, not only do the 10 new lanes provide increased southbound queueing capacity, but also the total number of vehicle lanes expands to 21 at the international border as travelers approach El Chaparral’s inspection booths.
“With the start of summer travel upon us, the newly realigned I-5 south lanes are opening right in the nick of time,” said Rich Fallejo, GSA Project Manager for Phase 3. “The expansion of southbound lanes to 10 was perhaps one of the most anticipated project milestones for both the project team and the community, and we are excited to be able to deliver them in time for summer.”
The new southbound lanes lead the traveling public through 10 new vehicle inspection booths, which provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers with the necessary infrastructure to safely carry out their intermittent inspection operations. The I-5 Realignment project will also construct additional CBP infrastructure, including a canopied southbound secondary vehicle inspection area, employee parking structure, and a southbound administrative building. GSA is also working diligently on the construction of 15 new northbound vehicle inspection booths over eight new lanes on the east side of the port. Once complete, the port will boast 62 northbound vehicle inspection booths over 34 lanes.
“GSA couldn’t be more pleased with the level of support we’ve received from the traveling public and our regional partners on this project,” said Anthony Kleppe, Land Ports of Entry Program Manager for GSA Region 9. “Without their continued assistance, it would be difficult to deliver this technically challenging but critically important project on time and on budget. We would also like to express our gratitude to the community for their patience, feedback and support throughout the length of this project.”
GSA is projecting the ultimate completion of the nearly decade-long modernization and expansion port project to occur this winter.