Time lines, as much as the planning itself, appear to be the key elements as the U.S. and Mexico coordinate port, road and railroad projects in this area.

State and federal officials in both countries have mapped out long-range plans, but unless cross-border roads and rails meet, neither can complete what they consider high-priority projects.

A step in that coordination took place last week when a master plan was unveiled that covered 200 U.S.-Mexico projects between Presidio-Ojinaga and Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo.

Among two time-line questions to address are:

• Construction on the U.S. side of the state-of-the-art Tornillo-Guadalupe port of entry is ongoing. But officials in the Mexican state of Chihuahua must await a nod from new Mexican President Enrique Peña Neito before work continues on the Guadalupe side of the international bridge.

• Also, the U.S. does not have the planned border crossing at Santa Teresa listed as a high priority, but Mexico does. Santa Teresa is a new home for the Union Pacific rail yards. San Jeronimo is a rapidly growing twin-plant area in the Juárez region.

via Our View: Coordination between U.S., Mexico key to border crossing plans – Las Cruces Sun-News.