large port entry in arizona to see upgrading and remodeling

Members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors have announced their location preference for the building of a new port of entry facility in Douglas, Arizona.

The second largest such port in Arizona, officials have for years said that the overall facility needs to be greatly upgraded in order to efficiently serve an always-increasing flow of traffic to and from Mexico.

The Raul H. Castro Port of Entry at 15 Pan American Avenue currently processes more than 64,000 commercial trucks on an annual basis between Douglas and the Mexican city of Agua Prieta, not to mention upwards of 3 million cars.

Upgrading work on the overall port has included a $484,000 expansion project, adding a third lane to the pedestrian facility.

But both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as local officials in Douglas, have also been promoting the idea of building an entirely new facility at the border which would center on commercial traffic.

That move has now gained additional traction with the supervisors’ board delegating undeveloped land off of the James Ranch Road as an idea spot for that project.

Cochise County officials expect to spend up to $200,000 on a development study looking at the potential for building a new port.

Funding for construction of the separate port facility has not yet been identified.

By Garry Boulard

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