Presidio County, City of Presidio, and Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico officials were in Washington, D.C. last week, advocating on behalf of the Presidio-Ojinaga International Bridge expansion project.

The Far West Texas and northern Mexico delegation included Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara, Presidio County Commissioner Jim White, Presidio Mayor John Ferguson, Ojinaga Mayor Miguel Antonio Carrion Rohana and County Project Coordinator Jake Giesbrecht. All are members of the newly created Presidio port authority.

Over two days, the group visited with Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn, Far West Texas Congressman Will Hurd, and Texas Lower Valley U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar. During these meetings, the members of Congress learned about the progress being made on the international bridge expansion project and about the newly formed Presidio International Port Authority (PIPA).

“It was a productive trip to update and ask for assistance from Senator Cornyn and Congressmen Hurd and Cuellar,” said Guevara. “They were all receptive and offered their assistance to help us get our project across the goal line.”

Plans are to expand the bridge to four lanes from the existing two lanes, and make upgrades to both port facilities. The city of Presidio and Presidio County also plan to charge a toll on vehicles leaving Texas, like Mexico charges vehicles entering the city of Presidio.

The group also presented an update on the project to the U.S.-Mexico Bi-National Bridges and Border Crossings group.

The border crossings group discusses planned or ongoing border crossing projects along U.S. – Mexico border. It is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of State and the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE), and attended by federal agencies with an interest in border crossings, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Coast Guard, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), the respective departments of transportation and border authorities of the border states and their corresponding agencies in Mexico.

“The bi-national bridge meeting hosted by the U.S. State Department was interesting and allowed us the opportunity to discuss our project in front of all the U.S. and Mexican agencies that oversee and provide input in the process to expand our international bridge,” said Ferguson.

http://bigbendnow.com/2015/05/presidio-presidio-county-ojinaga-officials-grease-wheels-in-dc-for-bridge-expansion-project/