Industry News October 18, 2024

Feds propose permanent ban on cargo trucks at Texas border bridge

Article credit: Noi Mahoney

Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/feds-propose-permanent-ban-on-cargo-trucks-at-texas-border-bridge

El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas could eliminate tractor-trailers as part of $700M infrastructure renovation

Federal officials’ recommendation to ban tractor-trailers from the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso, Texas, is drawing criticism from members of the trade community.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has proposed eliminating all cargo traffic at the Bridge of the Americas as part of a $700 million project to improve infrastructure at the 57-year-old bridge.

El Paso has two international bridges that handle commercial trucks, including the Bridge of the Americas and the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge. About 500 northbound cargo trucks cross the Bridge of the Americas every day, while the Ysleta-Zaragoza International bridge handles more than 1,200 a day.

“It would definitely be catastrophic if they were to limit cargo through the Bridge of the Americas,” Manuel Sotelo, vice president of the Juarez chapter of Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transport (Canacar), told FreightWaves in an email.

Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, has around 300 maquiladoras — export factories in Mexico run by foreign companies — which together currently employs more than 313,000 workers, according to the Maquiladora Association of Juarez (AMAC). 

The U.S. market accounts for 95% of imports from Juarez to El Paso, AMAC said.

Global supply chain providers such as Kuehne+Nagel and Maersk have opened major logistics facilities in El Paso to support the increasing number of freight shipments between El Paso and Juarez.

As of Wednesday, FreightWaves SONAR Outbound Tender Volume Index for El Paso (OTVI.ELP) shows an increase of 64% in truck movements year over year and 2% week over week.

El Paso’s outbound tender volumes have increased 64% year over year (SONAR: OTVI.ELP). To learn more about FreightWaves SONAR, click here.

Sotelo said if the Bridge of the Americas were closed, cargo trucks would have to find alternate routes, which could cause congestion at nearby border bridges such as Ysleta-Zaragoza.

The Bridge of the Americas is also the only non-toll bridge in the area. The toll for cargo trucks to utilize the Ysleta-Zaragoza bridge is $9 for a vehicle with five axles, plus $4.50 for each additional axle.

The funding for the $700 million Bridge of the America project comes from the $3.4 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for building and modernizing land ports.

On Sept. 20, GSA presented three options as part of an environmental impact study with the public to decide the future of the Bridge of the Americas.

Two options include proposals to end all commercial cargo traffic through the port of entry, while under a third option, “no modernization would be made to the port.” GSA recommended permanently banning tractor-trailers from the Bridge of the Americas as its preferred option.

The Bridge of the Americas upgrade plan includes a new administration building, pedestrian walking lanes and passenger vehicle lanes.

While trade officials are against banning commercial trucks from the bridge, local officials in El Paso support the measure.

El Paso City Council recently voted unanimously to send a letter to GSA in support of eliminating all cargo traffic at the Bridge of the Americas. Council members said they back efforts to reduce air pollution in nearby residential neighborhoods that residents claim is caused by tractor-trailers traveling along the Bridge of the Americas.

The city joined El Paso County officials who also said they support residents who have been lobbying for a ban of commercial vehicle traffic in the area.

The start of the project is currently scheduled for 2026. During the construction period — an estimated three years — commercial traffic will be halted at the Bridge of the Americas. 

GSA’s environmental impact study is currently in a 45-day public comment period that ends Nov. 4.

Jerry Pacheco, president of the Border Industrial Association in New Mexico, said if cargo trucks are banned permanently, it could benefit the port of entry in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Santa Teresa is about 14 miles west of El Paso. The port of Santa Teresa currently processes about 600 trucks a day.

“We are anticipating more northbound commercial traffic at the Santa Teresa port of entry,” Pacheco told FreightWaves in an email. “We also expect that this move will put Santa Teresa on the priority list for expansion and modernization.”