Wednesday, June 5, 2002
FMCSA 11-02
Contacts:
FHWA: Lori Irving, 202-366-0660
FMCSA: David Longo, 202-366-0456
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Announces $54 Million in Grants to
Southwest Border States
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today announced $54 million in
grants to help ensure the safe operation of Mexico-domiciled commercial motor
vehicles in the United States and improve traffic flow at border crossings in
the four border states.
“These funds will help improve traffic flow and ensure
the safety of motorists by enabling construction and improvements to motor
carrier safety inspection facilities along the United States-Mexico border,”
said Secretary Mineta.
These funds were appropriated by Congress from the
federal-aid highways revenue aligned budget authority (RABA) to be distributed
among the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas under the
Department’s Border Infrastructure Program (BIP). Of the $54 million, $2.1 million will be awarded to Arizona;
$8.9 million, to California; $2.2 million, to New Mexico; and $40.8 million, to
Texas.
The objective of the BIP is twofold:
the safe operation of Mexico-domiciled commercial motor vehicles
operating in the United States and improved traffic flow at border crossings in
the four border states. Examples of the type of projects funded under the BIP,
beginning with construction of eight new commercial motor vehicle safety
inspection facilities at the border in Texas, include upgrade and final
construction of an automated port of entry at the Santa Teresa, NM border
crossing that will greatly increase the number of commercial motor vehicle
safety inspections that can be conducted at the facility and construction of
additional inspection bays and parking areas for out-of-service vehicles at the
commercial vehicle enforcement facility at Calexico, CA.
The BIP is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiative under which the federal government contributes 80 percent of the project cost and the four states involved pay 20 percent of the expenses. FHWA is the administering agency.
###