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Ribbon Cutting In Nogales To Commemorate Expanded Border Crossing

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Nogales to celebrate the expansion of Arizona’s busiest border crossing. The redesign of the Mariposa Port of Entry was completed in August after more than four years of construction.

The Mariposa port of entry was originally built in the 1970s to accommodate 500 trucks, according to Bruce Bracker, the chairman of the Greater Santa Cruz County Port Authority.

Now the crossing has a capacity of 4,000 trucks.

Under the redesign, the number of commercial lanes doubled from four to eight, and passenger vehicle lanes went from four to 12. The port of entry now has a pedestrian crossing facility and bus facility.

"The Mariposa project and the improvements in our connectivity to the federal highway system in both the U.S. and Mexico, makes the reconfiguration project a catalyst for growth and development for the entire corridor," said Bruce Bracker in an email.  

Some $200 million in federal stimulus funds went toward the redesign.

The U.S. ambassador in Mexico is scheduled to speak at the ribbon cutting, which begins at 11:30 a.m. 

Jude Joffe-Block was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2010 to 2017.