Traffic drives Border Patrol checkpoint expansion

By Diana M. Alba dalba@lcsun-news.com
Posted: 04/04/2011 02:54:41 AM MDT

LAS CRUCES - The U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint west of here was big enough 18 years ago, when it last expanded, growing from one lane to two. But now, vehicle lines are forming faster and getting longer.

That poses a problem, border officials said, because of a tug-of-war between public safety and their goal of intercepting drug loads and undocumented immigrants traveling Interstate 10. Officials said the shorter they keep the traffic lines, the less chance for an inattentive driver to plow into the stalled vehicles. But the faster they direct traffic through the checkpoint, the less time they have to check for suspicious activity.

Ideally, Border Patrol agents would speak with every driver, giving them a better chance to pick up the verbal and nonverbal tipoffs that someone has something to hide, said Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge Garth Rogers, second in command at the Las Cruces station. But the agency also has a legal mandate to minimize the inconvenience to travelers, he said.

Rogers noted the 1993 improvement was the only expansion since 1978.

"It's tough handling today's traffic," he said.

While Rogers and Richard Hudson, chief patrol agent in charge of the Las Cruces station, said they didn't immediately know traffic counts for 1993, they said between 9,000 and 12,000 vehicles per day are passing through the I-10 checkpoint on average now.

The main focus of the Las Cruces station is operating three checkpoints, along Interstate 10, Interstate 25 and N.M. Hwy. 185, officials said. Three other permanent checkpoints and one movable checkpoint, located between Columbus and Deming, exist in the El Paso Border Patrol sector, which covers New Mexico and west Texas.

Rogers spent a stint as an agent at the Las Cruces station between 1988 and 1995, before leaving. He returned in 2001 and noticed an increase in traffic at the I-10 checkpoint, he said. Agents, he said, were spending more time "flushing" traffic through, to keep the lines from backing up onto the interstate. Even then, they're still looking for suspicious reactions from drivers, Hudson said.

Improvements pending

A construction project already underway at the I-10 station will address the congestion problem, Hudson and Rogers said.

Plans call for building a new, two-lane ramp that will divert commercial trucks off the interstate. The entrance and exit ramps will be longer than those for passenger cars, allowing for more time to slow down and accelerate, officials said. Also, a second metal canopy will be built for truck inspections.

Meanwhile, the existing two lanes will be dedicated to passenger vehicles only, once construction is finished, likely in July. Rogers said the "footprint" of the site will more than double, growing from 12 acres to 30.

"We're really looking forward to this," he said.

Last week, workers with the Kentucky-based Vanguard Contractors Inc. could be seen pouring concrete at the I-10 checkpoint. The first dirt was turned in August 2010.

The Las Cruces station does have staffing to handle the expanded site, Hudson and Rogers said. However, they said it's likely to be rare that all four lanes will need to be open at once, at least at the beginning.

A lane expansion for the I-25 checkpoint, which sees about 3,000 to 5,000 vehicles per day, was finished in August 2009, officials said. That site grew from about 0.7 acres to 12 acres.

The I-10 checkpoint expansion should be large enough to handle the next two decades of operations, Hudson said, though he acknowledged there are several variables.

"We've been working on this for a number of years with various engineers at the state level and the Army Corps of Engineers to make sure we have something that's not just going to allow us to do our job today, but in years to come," he said.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_17767060