PHARR, Texas - Fully certified trucks will be able to whiz through the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in ten minutes, once the second span is complete.
This bold prediction came from Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan at IWS4. He said the aim is not to reduce wait times but to eliminate it.
Pharr Economic Development Corporation’s fourth industrial warehouse summit was held at the Pharr Development and Research Center.
In his presentation, Bazan spoke about the eagerly anticipated second span project. He said there will be four more lanes and two of them will be reserved for fully inspected trucks.
“I'm happy to report that (the second span) basically increases our bridge capacity by 100 percent. Another four lanes. But more importantly, fast lanes. We're going to have fast lanes, free and secure trade lanes all the way from Mexico to the United States,” Bazan said.
“We're going to have two fast lanes all the way to Mexico. That means that if you're certified, and all your supply chain is certified, your truck, your driver, your product, everything, you're going to be able to get across this bridge in 10 minutes, without even being inspected again.”
Bazan said that, unofficially, Mexico has already finished its half of the second span and trucks are using it.
“All the trucks that are going through the Pharr Bridge right now, going south into Mexico… cars will continue on the same route on the same bridge… but trucks are being diverted towards the new bridge to enter the import lot in Reynosa. So, what is that doing? It’s making us more efficient.”
Bazan said everyone associated with the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge is excited about the expansion.
“When I presented this at Merida, a lot of people, especially from the interior of Mexico, were not too familiar with the territory. They didn't know that we were working on a second span. So, it was great to be there with our friends, Luis Mendez, Raul Sesin and more importantly, our president for Index, Humberto Martinez, because they were able to introduce us to a lot of these companies that are now looking at Pharr as an alternative. And, potentially in the future, their number one route,” Bazan said.
"Why? Because again, we're going to guarantee, at some point we will guarantee, that we will start eliminating wait times, not just reducing weight times, eliminating wait times, because we want all conveyances, we want all your products to get across in an efficient manner. We have to increase our truck throughput. We have to ensure that we continue to drive trade forward, but we need everybody’s help.”
Bazan visited Merida to attend Index’s annual convention. Index is the trade association for the maquiladora industry. Sesin and Martinez are past presidents of Index Reynosa. Mendez is the current president of Index Reynosa. Martinez is the current president of Index at the national level.
Bazan played a video showing the Mexican half of the second span.
“They broke in March of 2023, and they got to work immediately. In April, they started prefabricating the beams for the bridge in Reynosa. And now they're done with the bridge,” Bazan said.
“They were supposed to finish at the end of this calendar year, November or December, the last quarter of 2024. But they're done already. And they kept their word. They kept their promise. Unofficially, they didn't even announce it (the opening) to the Aduana. They didn't even announce it to our customs brokers. They didn't announce it to anybody. Next thing we know, trucks are already crossing through there.”
And what about the U.S. side of the second span? Bazan said the construction crews are moving fast.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in August of this year. We broke ground not just for the brink expansion, but also for the DAP (Donation Acceptance Program) 16 project. So, right now, this project, our project, our side of bridge expansion, 50% of the expansion, about a mile and a half, is already at about 15% of its construction,” Bazan said.
“So, it's moving fast. We're hoping that weather delays and things of that nature will not delay the project further, because we want to get done. And what is our timeline? November of 2025. So, next year, November, our bridge will be open, fully operational, and we will make it official.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of Luis Bazan's presentation at IWS4:
