SPI Insights

Two Texas land ports of entry are set to receive a portion of $3.4 billion in funding from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for modernization and construction projects through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Federal funding will support the construction and modernization of land ports of entry (LPOEs) on the country’s northern and southern borders with the goals of improving commerce and trade and incorporating new and innovative sustainability features.

A proposed modernization project at El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas will be phased with plans to first solicit an architectural and engineering consultant to validate the feasibility program of requirements.

The project will fully modernize the facility with a new administration building, pedestrian processing lanes, headhouse, passenger vehicle lanes, kennel, and commercial vehicle inspection area. The project will help improve traffic flow and facilitate trade.

GSA officials said the port facility has reached the end of its life cycle and buildings and infrastructure are operating beyond capacity.

Brownsville’s Gateway LPOE is directly adjacent to downtown and borders the city of Matamoros in Mexico. Due to choke points on-site because of the existing layout of operations, wait times for pedestrian and vehicle traffic can exceed three to four hours depending on season and time of day.

The project will expand capacity at Gateway and make it safer for pedestrians and vehicles crossing into the U.S. Existing facilities are significantly undersized, and all major building systems are past their useful lives.

The direct spending by GSA is estimated to: support, on average, nearly 6,000 annual jobs over the next eight years; add $3.23 billion in total labor income across the U.S.; contribute an additional $4.5 billion to the National Gross Domestic Product; and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for state, local, and federal governments.