SAN YSIDRO The U.S. government said it will keep all lanes open at the San Ysidro border crossing during the Labor Day weekend, temporarily halting the expansion project there, a spokeswoman said.
What's more, there will more personnel on hand because two inspection booths per lane can be opened at a time, said Jackie Wasiluk, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Still, there is bound to be a crush of travelers during the weekend, particularly on Monday, as tourists head home and Mexicans shoppers head to San Diego-area stores to hunt for holiday sales.
U.S. authorities encouraged all northbound travelers who have U.S. documents with RFID (radio frequency identification)-enabled technology such as U.S. passport cards, legal permanent resident cards (so-called "green cards) and border crossing cards to use the Ready Lane at the Otay Mesa crossing. This special lane, at the far left of the port of entry, can "read" the documents before the traveler arrives at the inspection booth, speeding up the crossing process.
Many crossers who routinely use San Ysidro are beginning to discover the Ready Lane, which can cut travel time significantly, and are making Otay Mesa their preferred port of entry.
The CBP offers estimates of border wait times for:
San Ysidro: http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/rss.asp?portList=250401&f=html
Otay Mesa (passenger): http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/rss.asp?portList=250601&f=html
Tecate:http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/rss.asp?portList=250501&f=html
Alexandra.mendoza@sandiegored.com
