The California-Baja California Border Master Plan is a binational effort to coordinate the planning and delivery of projects at land port of entries and the transportation infrastructure serving them.
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in partnership with the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Urban Development of Baja California (Secretaría de Infraestructura y Desarrollo Urbano del Estado de Baja California or SIDUE in Spanish) and the U.S./Mexico Joint Working Committee (JWC), retained the SANDAG Service Bureau to assist in the development of this Plan.
The JWC envisioned the California-Baja California Border Master Plan as a pilot project between border states. Based on the outcomes of this pilot binational planning process, the California-Baja California approach could be expanded to other border states and customized to address their needs, resulting in a master planning process for the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
California-Baja California Border Master Plan Objectives
State of the Practice: Increase the understanding of POE and transportation planning on both sides of the border and create a plan for prioritizing and advancing POE and related transportation projects.
POE and Transportation Facilities Projects – Evaluation Criteria and Rankings: Develop criteria for prioritizing projects related to existing and new POEs, as well as transportation facilities leading to the California-Baja California POEs; rank mid- and long-term projects and services (e.g., roads, public transit, and railways).
Institutionalizing the California-Baja California Master Plan Process: Establish a process to institutionalize dialogue among federal, state, regional, and local stakeholders in the United States and Mexico to identify future POE and connecting transportation infrastructure needs and coordinate projects.
The California-Baja California Border Master Plan study area includes an “Area of Influence” and a “Focused Study Area.” The “Area of Influence” is the geographic area 60 miles, or 100 km., north and south of the California-Baja California International Border. In California, it includes the counties of San Diego and Imperial. In Baja California, it includes the municipalities of Tijuana, Tecate, Playas de Rosarito, parts of Mexicali, and the urban area of Ensenada.
The “Focused Study Area” is the area ten miles north and south of the California-Baja California International Border. The short-, mid-, and long-term POE and transportation projects analyzed in the California-Baja California Border Master Plan were limited to this bandwidth.