Calexico is a small city in Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexico–United States border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about 122 miles (196 km) east of San Diego and 62 miles (100 km) west of Yuma, Arizona. Calexico, along with six other incorporated Imperial County cities, forms part of the larger populated area known as the Imperial Valley.
Mexicali is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California and seat of the Municipality of Mexicali. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 996,826; making the city and metropolitan area the second most populous in Baja California.
State Route 7 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, running from the Calexico East Port of Entry on the U.S.-Mexico border east of Calexico north to its terminus at Interstate 8 (I-8), where Orchard Road continues the route north towards Holtville. The route provides convenient access to the country of Mexico from I-8. The southern portion of the route opened in 1996, and the rest of the route connecting to I-8 opened in 2005.
The New River flows north from near Cerro Prieto, through the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, into the United States through the city of Calexico, California, towards the Salton Sea. The river channel has existed since pre-historic times. However, the river as known today formed from a levee failure and massive flooding that re-created the Salton Sea.
State Route 98 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a loop of Interstate 8 (I-8) running west to east south of the Interstate through the border city of Calexico. It passes through the city of Calexico and ends east of Holtville. The highway was added to the state highway system in 1933, and signed as Route 98 by 1938. The highway was paved and rerouted to its current path during the 1950s.
The Progreso–Nuevo Progreso International Bridge on the U.S.–Mexico border, has been in operation at this location since 1952. It connects the cities of Progreso, Texas, and Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas.
San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2012 population of the region was 4,922,723, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico, the third-largest shared between the US and another country, and the fourth-largest in the world. In its entirety, the region consists of San Diego County in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Tecate in Mexico. It is the third most populous region in the California–Baja California region, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Federal Highway 2 is a free part of the federal highway corridors that runs along the Mexico–United States border. The highway is in two separate improved segments, starting in the west at Tijuana, Baja California, on the Pacific coast and ending in the east in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Fed. 2 passes through the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. It has a total length of 1,963 kilometres (1,220 mi); 1,319 kilometres (820 mi) in the west and 644 kilometres (400 mi) in the east.
The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) provides expedited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing, at the U.S.-Mexico border, of pre-approved travelers considered low-risk. Voluntarily applicants must undergo a thorough background check against criminal, customs, immigration, law enforcement, and terrorist databases; a 10-fingerprint law enforcement check; and a personal interview with a CBP Officer. The total enrollment fee is $122.25, and SENTRI status is valid for 5 years.
The Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) is a group of international bridges which cross the Rio Grande and Texas State Highway Loop 375, connecting the Mexico–United States border cities of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua and El Paso, Texas, via the MX 45 from the south and the I-110 from the north, crossing the El Paso BOTA Port of Entry. The bridge is colloquially known as "Puente Libre" in Ciudad Juárez, officially as "Puente Internacional Córdova-Las Américas" or "Puente Internacional Córdova de las Américas", and also known as "Puente Río Bravo", "Cordova Bridge" and "Free Bridge".
The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the fourth-busiest land border crossing in the world with 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians crossing each day, in addition to southbound traffic. It connects Mexican Federal Highway 1 on the Mexican side with Interstate 5 on the American side. The San Ysidro Port of Entry is one of three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region.
Calexico–Mexicali is an transborder agglomeration in southeastern California and northwestern Baja California with its center being the border between the sister cities of Calexico and Mexicali. The agglomeration lies within a large geologic region known as the Salton Trough with the city of Calexico located in the Imperial Valley on the United States side of the border, and Mexicali located in the Mexicali Valley on the Mexico side of the border.
The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is one of three ports of entry (POE) in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region, in the U.S. state of California, connecting Otay Mesa in the City of San Diego with the Otay Centenario borough of Tijuana. The facility was opened in 1983, and was constructed primarily to divert growing commercial truck traffic from the busy San Ysidro Port of Entry. Since then, significant passenger vehicle and pedestrian traffic has grown as development in the area around the crossing has grown. Commercial importations through Otay Mesa accounts for billions of dollars' worth of freight.
The Tecate Port of Entry is one three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region. The land port is located between Tecate, California in San Diego County's Mountain Empire and Tecate Municipality in Baja California. It connects California State Route 188 with Paseo Lazero Cardenas, a spur of Mexico Federal Highway 2, as well as Federal Highway 3 to the south. It is a minor port in comparison to the larger San Ysidro Port of Entry and Otay Mesa Port of Entry. This is attributed in part to the fact that reaching the crossing on the US side requires driving on narrow, winding mountain roads.
The Andrade Port of Entry is the easternmost and lowest volume border crossing in California, USA. It is located 2 miles south of Interstate 8, and about 2000 feet west of the Colorado River, in Imperial County opposite the Los Algodones border crossing in Baja California, Mexico. It is a minor port in comparison to the larger Calexico West and Calexico East Ports of Entry. In spite of its remote desert location, it supports significant tourist traffic volume. The Andrade-Los Algodones border crossing is also Mexico's northernmost port of entry. The port ranked 11th for pedestrian crossings in 2010, with more than one million people processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Calexico West Port of Entry is one of two ports of entry in the Imperial Valley area of California. It is located in the business center of the Calexico-Mexicali metropolitan area that is divided by an international boundary. This crossing has easy access north to Interstate 8 via California State Route 111. Mexican Federal Highway 5 then begins its journey to the south. The General Services Administration is currently implementing a multi-year facility upgrade that will dramatically change the appearance and throughput of the border crossing.
The San Luis Port of Entry has been a busy US port of entry since the early 1900s. It connects San Luis, Arizona, to San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. It connects to U.S. Route 95 on the north and Mexican Federal Highway 2 as well as Sonora State Highway 40 on the south.
The Nogales-Mariposa Arizona Port of Entry opened in 1973 to divert truck traffic away from the busy downtown Grand Avenue border crossing. It connects Arizona State Route 189 directly with Mexican Federal Highway 15. All commercial traffic entering the United States at Nogales now enters through the Mariposa port of entry. The port facilities are currently undergoing substantial renovation to accommodate increasing traffic and to support new equipment and procedures.
The Lukeville, Arizona Port of Entry was established by Executive Order in 1949. It has primarily been a port of entry for passenger vehicles and pedestrians. It connects Mexican Federal Highway 8 with Arizona State Route 85. Modifications made using funding from the Federal Highway Administration and Mexican businesses in 2011 facilitate the inspection of trucks and improve general throughput. Much of the traffic using this crossing is people traveling to the popular beach town of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora.
The Otay Mesa East Port of Entry is a planned border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, approximately 2 miles east of the existing Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The crossing will connect the Otay Centenario borough of Tijuana with East Otay Mesa in unincorporated San Diego County, an as-yet undeveloped area slotted for future development including a business park. Although the crossing will allow cars and pedestrians, it is mainly designed for trucks and commercial vehicles.
