San Ysidro Border Crossing Expansion Awaits Funding

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 29, 2006 at 8:04 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

Expansion of the San Ysidro border crossing could begin as soon as spring of 2009. Federal officials say the major roadblock is funding. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

Expansion of the San Ysidro border crossing could begin as soon as spring of 2009. Federal officials say the major roadblock is funding. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

The $520 million project would add eight northbound lanes from Tijuana to San Diego. The 30-year-old port facility would be renovated to include new technology that federal officials say would improve security and traffic.

So far, Congress has appropriated just $34 million for the expansion. Project Director Ramon Risesgo says he crosses the border often and knows upgrades are urgently needed. He hopes Congress will understand, too.

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Risesgo: I think Congress is a smart group of folks that understand economics and social impacts. And it might not be done at once, but I think it will eventually be done.

SANDAG estimates the San Diego region loses at least $2 billion a year due to long border waits. Mexico’s federal government must also give the project a green light. Amy Isackson, KPBS News.

Amy Isackson

Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.

See stories by Amy Isackson