SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Otay Mesa East, which will become the third border crossing in the San Diego-Tijuana region, is on pace to open late in 2024 according to the California Department of Transportation, also known as Caltrans.
It and the San Diego Association of Governments are funding the port of entry to be build on east side of San Diego’s Otay Mesa, which is already home to another border crossing.
Currently, crews are working on Highway 11 that will connect the new port of entry to the rest of San Diego’s roadway system.
Once that roadway and its connectors are finished, it will provide access to construction crews to begin building the port of entry at some point next year.
“Now we’re basically fully funded and under construction on all the horizontal — the roadways. Now we’re focused on the vertical, which is the port of entry itself,” said Mario Orso, Project Corridor Director at Caltrans. “It’s really worth shooting for opening this facility by the end of 2024, so we’re really excited to see how things are lining up.”
According to Orso, a few agreements have yet to be worked out with Mexico’s federal government.
Among them, they are trying to finalize where to install toll booths since the new port of entry and immediate roadway north of the crossing will charge a fee to border commuters.
The money will be used to pay bonds being used to for the construction.
