While all air traffic is still going through the Tijuana International Airport, just a stone’s throw from the US/Mexico border, a 390-foot sky bridge spans the border and links up with a full service terminal in San Diego’s Otay Mesa community.
Ideas related to the binational terminal go all the back to the 1980s, and this plan in particular, dubbed Cross Border Express, had been in the works for eight years. The first binational travelers made the first crossing on Wednesday as Cross Border Express officially opened.
San Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez hopes this is just the first foothold in something greater, saying, "It's going to hopefully relieve some of the pressures of San Ysidro and Otay Mesa but then also this is phase one. We're going to see crossings here. We hope that this border crossing expands so that we can do other things like cargo and we can get goods moving through this area."
The $18 crossing and trip through customs is apparently much quicker than the normally $13 taxi ride to one of the traditional land crossings, which can take hours to get through.
San Diego’s half of the terminal has room for growth as well, as the $120 million terminal occupies less than half their 55-acre parcel, and the city of San Diego has approved a 340-room hotel, shopping center, and gas station.
More on the Cross Border Express can be found here.
Image Credit: Flickr User ishanet, https://flic.kr/p/3hKkfL via (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)