City braces for opening of northbound traffic at POE

Calexico City officials and authorities said on Thursday they’re bracing for traffic issues when the northbound west port of entry opens in mid-September.

Calexico Police Department Chief Gonzalo Gerardo said, “Just like when we did the southbound change, we’re going to have a two-week adjustment. We are going to have people out there trying to guide the people going north at peak hours.”

Ten northbound lanes will open leading traffic onto Second Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

Mayor Pro-Tem Lewis Pacheco said, “If you want to go to Yuma, Arizona; if you want to San Diego; if you want to shop in the valley, this is the new entry way.”

Chief Gerardo said that they have more traffic controllers ready, if needed.

“As long as we keep the traffic flow under five hundred cars coming through per hour we’ll do great,” Gerardo said.

And that means more customs agents needed at the port of entry.

“If you’ve got 10 lanes, and you’ve only manning it with four people or three people, that’s not going to help. It doesn’t help us to have a brand-new port and just manning it with half the personnel or less. That’s not going to work. We need to have more money from the federal government to provide those extra jobs,” Pacheco said.

Former Calexico Mayor Victor Carrillo said there may be unforeseen issues coming out of the traffic change.

“There’s only going to be one arterial, Imperial Avenue, south to Second Street, and then Second Street west to Cesar Chavez Boulevard to cross into Mexico. So, that’s going to be impeded with a lot of traffic, people that are westbound on Second Street trying to cross Imperial Avenue,” Carrillo said.

They expect the first two weeks of the opening to be a learning time. No tickets for minor traffic violations will be given during that time.

“If the infraction is somebody gets lost, somebody doesn’t where they’re going, we’re not going to ticket those people,” Gerardo said.