Construction will continue on the ongoing expansion of the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego despite the temporary federal government shutdown.
The Daily Transcript reports that the project's first phase, to expand the number of customs booths available to process cars crossing into San Diego, has already received full congressional funding and will continue uninterrupted.
"We have sufficient government personnel able to oversee the work at these projects during this lapse," a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which is building the project, told the newspaper.
Additional phases of the project, to modernize the crossing facilities for pedestrians, have not begun or received funding.
The San Ysidro Port of Entry between Tijuana and San Diego is the busiest land border crossing in the world. But it's been plagued by hours-long waits to cross into San Diego, a reality that deters tourism and that regional leaders say has a huge impact on the border region's economy. The expansion project aims to streamline operations at the border crossing, and is expected to be complete by 2016.
