By Staff Reporter |

The federal government says delays are bound to occur with impending construction on Arizona’s second-busiest border entry point. 

The 16-acre San Luis I Land Port of Entry, established in 1984, will undergo another series of renovations beginning June 20 to improve its operations and infrastructure. Construction on this leg of the project will last approximately four to five months per Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

The forthcoming construction is part of a greater $356 million expansion and modernization project which pledges to make San Luis I Land Port of Entry an “eco-friendly gateway” as the “first fully electric, net-zero energy land port of entry” in the country. Construction work on the port of entry began in 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in the spring of 2029. 

The port expansion and modernization project was announced in 2024 under former President Joe Biden as a major “green expansion” initiative for his Investing in America agenda. Nearly $100 million of the total project funding came from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies for “low-embodied carbon construction materials and emerging and sustainable technologies.”

IRA funds also went to 37 other land port of entry projects. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) both endorsed the project and its net-zero approach.

The IRA appropriated $3.4 billion for GSA to institute net-zero emissions infrastructure reforms in federal facilities across America by 2045. 

The General Services Administration (GSA) has stated in its public project summary for the port of entry that the current infrastructure has proven inadequate to handle traffic volumes and CBP mission requirements. 

“The modernization and expansion project will improve efficiencies and traffic flows, reduce wait times, increase CBP processing capacity and operational security by effectively deploying the latest technology to identify high risk activity and shipments and combat drug trafficking,” stated the GSA.

In March, the GSA announced the San Luis I Land Port of Entry opened 16 new northbound vehicle lanes, doubling the previous capacity, covered with two shade canopies spanning 16,000 square feet. 

The expansion and modernization project also includes a secondary vehicle processing area, additional pedestrian inspection lanes, and a new administrative facility. It further expands southbound privately owned vehicle operations with upgraded primary and secondary inspection and processing buildings, as well as expanded employee parking.

Last July, the Office of the Inspector General notified the GSA that contractors who hadn’t undergone the required security screening had worked on the port of entry expansion and modernization project.

Travelers seeking passage through the San Luis I Land Port of Entry should review border wait times on the CBP website or the mobile app, Border Wait Times. 

The San Luis I Land Port of Entry encounters three million drivers and 2.5 million pedestrians annually, per GSA data. 

The GSA awarded the design-build contract for the expansion and modernization effort to Hensel Phelps Construction Company in 2022, which is based out of Colorado and one of the biggest general contractors and construction managers nationwide.

Community stakeholder and civic leader briefings on the port of entry occurred in the spring of 2024.

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