SAN DIEGO — People are waiting longer to cross into Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and experts say you can blame a coincidence in timing.
On top of sheer numbers of people crossing, experts say several infrastructure projects on the Mexican side, happening at the same time, are clogging up the traffic flow.
Drivers like Luis Vasquez are used to spending hours in their cars at the border, without moving much. When he spoke with CBS 8, he'd already been waiting in the car with his family for more than an hour.
"It gets really backed up," he said as he added he'd been waiting with his family in the car for more than an hour.
Leslie Gonzalez, another driver, said she'd been waiting an hour as well.
"This is multi-factor, this is not just one thing that's going on," Joaquin Luken, Executive Director of the Smart Border Coalition, said.
A coincidence in the timing of a handful of infrastructure projects in Tijuana is a major factor in the backup we've been seeing since late last year. The Chaparral Bridge, which crews are working to repair right now after a six-inch crack formed on it, is one. Thursday, Tijuana's mayor toured the project and announced the opening is delayed until June.
"Now, we have the Playas access bridge, which also is closed here and there depending on traffic flow," Luken added as a second factor. "Remember... SEDENA (a part of the Mexican Military) is building the overpass that will eventually alleviate traffic."
Luken said a third factor is the sheer number of people crossing has gone up.
"More and more people are crossing into TJ because cost of living in San Diego," he said. (Vasquez also agreed with that.)
Luken added that those factors — on top of closed lanes awaiting installation of new equipment at the crossing, and the usual random, but necessary CBP inspections — are creating a bottleneck.
In a statement to CBS 8, a CBP spokesperson said:
"CBP’s San Diego Field Office is committed to facilitating legitimate trade and travel as safely, securely, and efficiently as possible. CBP is constantly assessing its resources and adjusting its operations to best serve communities, all while upholding its critical national security mission through the interdiction of dangerous narcotics, illicit contraband, and more."
The longest of the infrastructure projects in Tijuana is scheduled to be done in about a year. Luken says he's hopeful to see relief as each one wraps up.
Up to 50,000 drivers cross the border in San Ysidro between peak hours every day. At least 15,000 of those go on to use the Chaparral bridge to get to the river area.
"It's really a matter of infrastructure finally being complete," Luken said. "It's key."
It's a resolution drivers like Vasquez say require a little composure from everyone.
"Be patient and don't cut in front of everybody else."
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