Damaged Laredo World Trade Bridge to Benefit From '$100 Million Plan' for Infrastructure Enhancements

The World Trade Bridge at the Laredo Port of Entry in the next few years will garner updates to allow for automated pre-screening and inspection data collection of U.S.-bound cargo earlier in the supply chain, and to integrate scanning and processing technologies, as part of a $100 million plan to enhance the port, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas announced July 5 (here). The plan will integrate a “robust” Wi-Fi capability, radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs), “drive-through multi-energy truck portal X-ray systems” and other CBP cargo processing systems into a common software package, and install state-of-the-art traffic control systems, according to the announcement. Updates will also include buildout of a cargo traffic control tower with an operations center, X-ray image analysis stations, cameras to monitor compound activities in real time, a modern inspection and technology training center and agricultural laboratory, and bypass lanes, the announcement says. CBP also plans to maximize joint inspections at the port with other U.S. federal and state and Mexican customs partners.

The City or Laredo, Texas, will fund, with $10.3 million, the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Lanes Relocation Project, “which will expedite trade from trusted partners,” the announcement says. The City of Laredo, CBP and the General Services Administration will accept donations for plans to construct a lane on the bridge to be solely used for participants in the trusted shipper program, allowing FAST trucks a more direct route from the bridge into the new inspection facility. The project is expected to boost the bridge’s capacity by 47 percent while reducing FAST trucks’ wait times from 30 to five minutes, the announcement says. Design, procurement and construction is expected to take three years to complete. The City of Laredo is drafting an application to amend a Presidential Permit to expand the bridge from eight to 16 lanes.

“With more efficient processing, increased cargo capacity and reduced wait times, we will save millions of dollars in lost economic output and create jobs while securing our strategic location as a world trade hub,” Cuellar said in a statement. A May 21 storm damaged the Laredo World Trade Bridge border crossing (see 1705240019).