Caltrans joined elected representatives and local transportation officials July 17 to celebrate the completion of the last major segment of a new six-lane freeway on State Route 905, connecting the Otay Mesa Port of Entry to Interstate 805.

“This is a vital project that will boost California’s economy by improving the efficient movement of international goods now and in the future as trade grows through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.

Total imports and exports between California and Baja California, Mexico were $15 billion in 1995. Today, they total more than $36 billion, with 98 percent of this trade transported by trucks. In 2005, more than two million trucks passed through the California/Baja California border ports of entry, and the volume is expected to double by 2020.

The entire SR-905 Project cost $441 million and constructed more than 6 mi. (9.6 km) of a new six-lane freeway in three phases beginning in 2005. It was among the first in the state to receive funding ($74 million) from the Recovery Act. California has put more than $2.3 billion of its $2.6 billion in Recovery Act funding back into the state’s economy. This includes nearly 1,000 highway, local street and job training transportation projects.

The project also received $85 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. To date, nearly $14 billion in Proposition 1B funds have been distributed statewide.

The SR-905 Project was a partnership between Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration, and the San Diego Association of Governments.

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