[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 STATE ROUTE 905--NAFTA's MISSING LINK

                                 ______


                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 23, 1995
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will be interested in 
testimony I gave today before the Transportation Subcommittee of the 
Committee on Appropriations:

       Mr. Chairman, thank you for this opportunity to provide 
     testimony on a project that is critical to the economic 
     success of the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] 
     and the economic development of not only southern California, 
     but the whole Nation.
       When the 103d Congress approved and the President signed 
     NAFTA, we all knew that ensuring the success of the agreement 
     would require that all parties provide the necessary 
     infrastructure to facilitate the flow of trade. I am asking 
     this committee and this Congress to honor this commitment to 
     San Diego.
       State Route 905 is the critical missing link in our United 
     States-Mexico border trade and transportation system on the 
     West Coast. The current road serves as the only connection 
     between the Otay Mesa point of entry [POE] in San Diego and 
     the Nation's interstate highway system. State Route 905 is a 
     part of that infrastructure which is needed to accommodate 
     international trade and deserves to be funded and completed.
       I am here today to urge you to consider funding this vital 
     link during your upcoming deliberations of transportation 
     projects to be funded during fiscal year 1996.


                         demonstration projects

       There is a critical need for continued Federal funding of 
     ``special highway demonstration projects.'' States undergo a 
     constant struggle to build and maintain their own intrastate 
     roads and bridges. They do not have sufficient funds to 
     single-handedly complete highway projects which supplement 
     the national highway system and which support Federal trade 
     policy--as in our case.
       This project will produce benefits far beyond the local 
     region as only 16 percent of trade using this border crossing 
     has a San Diego origin or destination. Every State in the 
     continental United States, Hawaii, Canada, Asia, and the 
     Canal Zone all profit from trade through this point of entry.
       The Federal Highway Administration has proposed that this 
     road be a part of the National Highway System--and I am 
     confident that the Committee on Transportation and 
     Infrastructure will include this in its list of authorized 
     projects.


                            local commitment

       The city of San Diego and the State of California already 
     have demonstrated their good faith commitment to their share 
     of this project. They have invested $14 million and have 
     begun work to widen the existing road from four to six lanes 
     of traffic. However, due to the increasingly heavy flow of 
     transborder commercial traffic, this road will be at--or 
     above--capacity when completed. This is only a short-term 
     solution, however, and a permanent answer to America's 
     growing trade with Mexico is needed.
       We have worked closely with the city and county of San 
     Diego, the State Department of Transportation [CALTRANS], and 
     the local
      regional council of governments in identifying this as our 
     county's top transportation need.
       In addition, CALTRANS, the General Services Administration 
     and the California Highway Patrol Department all concur on 
     the vital need for completion of this highway to meet the 
     pressing needs created by the substantial increase in trade 
     transportation.


                           trade facilitation

       This is a necessary and vital road because the Otay Mesa 
     crossing is the only commercial vehicle border crossing 
     facility between the two largest cities on the United States-
     Mexico border. With the recent opening of a new border 
     crossing facility at Otay Mesa, this point of entry handles 
     the third highest value of commerce along the entire United 
     States-Mexico border.
       The recent Federal Highway Administration report to 
     Congress estimated that, because of the adoption of NAFTA, 
     the value of commercial goods crossing the border would 
     increase by 208 percent by the year 2000--but only if 
     additional infrastructure improvements are made. If we 
     achieve this 208 percent growth--the estimated value of goods 
     crossing this border would be $18.8 billion annually.
       The Otay Mesa border crossing facility can handle this 
     increase in business. We simply need an additional 
     incremental investment on the part of the Federal Government 
     to put us in a position to take full advantage of future 
     increases in trade.
       The one road that leads from the interstate highway, to 
     this border crossing cannot accommodate the increase in 
     traffic. This link is a four-lane city street--Otay Mesa 
     Road--which is already over capacity and which has been the 
     location of a number of fatal vehicular accidents due to its 
     congestion. This road was never intended to handle heavily 
     loaded cargo trucks travelling at high speeds to and from the 
     international border. We need a highway to take this 
     commercial traffic inland.
       Mr. Chairman, the Federal Government made the decision to 
     process all international commercial traffic at the Otay Mesa 
     border crossing. The Federal Government also made the 
     decision to approve NAFTA--which will soon double the volume 
     of our cross-border traffic. These two new federal trade 
     policies have created the urgent need for this highway. Not 
     funding this project would be the worst kind of unfunded 
     mandate. The Federal Government must meet this 
     responsbility--our local communities simply cannot.


                           Traffic and Safety

       As I have mentioned, an overcrowded four lane city street--
     Otay Mesa Road--provides the only connection between the Otay 
     Mesa point of entry and the interstate highway system. This 
     road, which has the appearance of a country road, was not 
     intended to carry a high volume of automobile traffic and 
     certainly never a high volume of heavy commercial vehicles.
       With the closing of the nearby San Ysidro border crossing 
     to commercial traffic, an additional 1,200 trucks per day 
     carrying commercial goods to and from Mexico now travel on 
     this city street. While the average mix of commercial trucks 
     on any city street is 5 percent, this road experiences a 20 
     to 25 percent truck mix during regular business hours. Wear 
     and tear on this road is occurring at an alarming rate due to 
     these heavy loads.
       When major traffic accidents occur on this road--as they do 
     with increasing frequency now--all border traffic slows to a 
     stop. It is typically 4 hours and occasionally more before 
     accidents are cleared away and traffic returns to normal. 
     This constitutes a major impediment to the implementation of 
     NAFTA.
       This road also does not meet requirements for the 
     transportation of hazardous materials through communities. 
     With the closing of the San Ysidro crossing to commercial 
     traffic, trucks carrying hazardous materials must travel to 
     the Calexico-Mexicali point of entry to cross the border--a 
     90-mile detour!
                                  cost

       We are asking that the Federal Government help San Diego 
     accommodate this increasing international trade by approving 
     a three-year project to build State Route 905, which would 
     link the Otay Mesa border crossing with the interstate 
     highway system, and to make the necessary street improvements 
     to manage this commercial traffic that is so vital to our 
     economic growth.
       While the total cost for the 3-year project is $96.7 
     million, our request for fiscal year 1996 is $500,000. These 
     funds would allow for the completion of necessary 
     environmental and cultural reports on the proposed route of 
     the new highway. These studies are important and invaluable 
     as they will influence the highway's alignment and 
     potentially reduce expensive mitigation costs in the future. 
     Funding for these studies is critical for this project to 
     move forward.


                               conclusion

       It is a Federal responsibility to connect ports of entry 
     with the interstate highway system. The Federal Government 
     has not met its obligations. The State of California and the 
     city of San Diego have invested more than $14 million in 
     interim remedies. The private sector has invested far more 
     than that to finance the necessary local street network. 
     Existing State and Federal funds are being used to improve 
     two existing highways, Interstates 5 and 15. These two 
     highways would carry NAFTA-related traffic from the new 
     highway to destinations throughout the county and beyond.
       San Diego County's transportation and infrastructure needs 
     are many. I hope that this committee will agree that the 
     relatively small Federal investment required for this 
     critical portion of border infrastructure, State Route 905, 
     is in the national interest and that you will include funding 
     for this road in our fiscal year 96 budget.
     

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