San Diego - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are announcing that all of the vehicle traffic lanes at the San Ysidro port of entry are expected to be available again for processing travelers by Saturday morning.
CBP officials overnight re-opened additional lanes northbound at the San Ysidro port of entry for vehicle processing, and as of 3:30 p.m. Friday, currently have 15 lanes for vehicle processing and a lane available for processing buses.
At 3 a.m. Friday morning, lane 11 was made available for vehicle processing and as of 4 a.m. Friday, vehicle lane 10 was added. The vehicle processing lanes on the east side of the port of entry continue to be closed as of 3:30 p.m. Friday.
CBP officials will continue to open lanes, and anticipate that the additional eight vehicle processing lanes will be available again by Saturday morning. Officials also anticipate re-opening the east egress during that time, allowing traffic to exit the port of entry onto the highway from both the east and west. Officials do not currently have a more specific timetable for when specific areas of the port of entry will be available.
SENTRI members can continue to use the SENTRI access lane that they would normally use to travel to the border crossing, and they will be redirected to the open lanes when they arrive at the port of entry.
Currently, general traffic must continue to use the approaches in Mexico that lead to the western side of the port of entry (to the left as you approach the border crossing from Mexico.)
CBP officials have been working with officials in Mexico, and will coordinate the re-opening of the approaches in Mexico that lead to the eastern side of the port of entry (to the right as you approach the border crossing from Mexico) with the re-opening of the remaining lanes at San Ysidro.
Vehicle traffic can still cross at either the Otay Mesa or Tecate ports of entry as well.
To alleviate possible traffic congestion through the weekend from the Mexican Independence holiday and exacerbated by Wednesday's incident:
- CBP will continue to use the cargo facility at the Otay Mesa border crossing in the evenings to process general traffic and travelers.
- For general traffic to access the Otay Mesa cargo facility from Mexico: From Avenida de las Bellas Artes, turn north on Colina del Sol. (This is normally the approach SENTRI members take to reach the Otay Mesa passenger port of entry.) At the north end of Colina del Sol, instead of bearing to the left into the SENTRI lanes at the Otay Mesa passenger port of entry, general traffic can go right into the Mexican export compound to reach the Otay Mesa cargo facility.
- The Otay Mesa cargo facility will be open:
- From Friday at 6 p.m. until 7 a.m. Saturday
- From Saturday at 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. Sunday
- From Sunday 5 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. Sunday night
- CBP will also keep the Tecate port of entry open 24 hours until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.
- The Tecate port of entry is using the cargo facility at that location in the evenings to accommodate processing general traffic.
We are working diligently and aggressively to use every method available to us to help alleviate traffic congestion.
CBP officers will continue to remain vigilant to stop any attempts at illegal activity.
Travelers can get updated information about changing traffic patterns and border wait times by calling (619) 690-8999 (San Ysidro border crossing) and (619) 671-8999 (Otay Mesa border crossing.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.