La Entrada al Pacífico is a trade corridor designated as "Trade Corridor 56" by the

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...

. The corridor is an international project between Mexico and the United States as a route from the Pacific Ocean port of

Topolobampo Topolobampo () is a port on the Gulf of California in northwestern Sinaloa, Mexico. It is the fourth-largest town in the municipality of Ahome (after Los Mochis, Ahome, and Higuera de Zaragoza), reporting a 2010 census population of 6,361 inha ...

in the Mexican state of Sinaloa to the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and beyond by way of the Midland-Odessa area. There is also a proposed upgrade of the rail connection, which might be easier by not requiring the addition of new bridges and tunnels in the Barranca de Cobre region. Its canyons are comparable in depth to the Grand Canyon in the United States.

Route

Mexican section

Initially proposed in 1997, this cooperative U.S. - Mexico trade route would begin in

, Sinaloa, and travel along Federal Highway 32 which as of July 2016, effectively ends at

Choix Choix () is a small city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is located inland, in the northernmost corner of the state. The city reported 9,305 inhabitants in the 2010 census. It contains the locality Sauzadebaca. References External linksG ...

. From there, the route is intended to travel through San Rafael, on currently-nonexistent roads that were supposed to have been finished by 2010. From San Rafael, the route would continue to the state capital, Chihuahua. The corridor then follows the newest section of highway to the border crossing of

Ojinaga Ojinaga (Manuel Ojinaga) is a town and seat of the municipality of Ojinaga, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2015, the town had a total population of 28,040. It is a rural border town on the U.S.-Mexico border, with the city o ...

Presidio A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were cen ...

American section

The route continues from Presidio on

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

(US 67) to the Interstate 10 (I-10) interchange. It then follows I-10/US 67 until US 67 goes north off the interstate and intersects US 385. The route then follows US 385 to

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

at I-20. It then follows I-20 east to FM 1788 south of Midland International Airport. It follows FM 1788 north to the proposed SH 349 reliever route to the main highway north of Midland. The final leg of the highway follows SH 349 to Lamesa.

Alternate sections

Lamesa to Amarillo

From Lamesa, the corridor follows US 87 to

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

and then it follows I-27 from Lubbock to

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...

Midland to Fort Worth and Dallas

From the FM 1788 junction, the route follows I-20 to Fort Worth and

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Midland to Wichita Falls

From the FM 1788 junction, the route follows I-20 to Abilene. Then, the route follows US 277 to

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...

Impacts to Midland/Odessa

Midland-Odessa stands to benefit greatly from this trade corridor. Plans include an inland port by

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

and other facilities.

Support

The major support from Midland-Odessa comes from the organization, MOTRAN (Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance). There is also some support from the governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The initial project was conceived to assist local Mexican power companies in the regional conversion from coal to natural gas, increase efficiency of import/export logistics as well as promoting and expanding trade between the neighboring nations.

Opposition

Citizens from the Big Bend area of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

have voiced their opinion that a larger highway through the area would damage the beauty of the area. The lack of support has prompted

TXDOT The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

to find reliever routes around cities in the area.

References

Alpine Avalanche "Analysis: Hey, guys, it's time to take down those signs" (February 22, 2008)Alpine Avalanche "Entrada news surprises Alpine" (February 22, 2008)KRTS Marfa Public Radio "No Four-Lane Highway Through The Big Bend." (February 20, 2008)
* ttp://www.star-telegram.com/275/v-print/story/78055.html Star-Telegram "Storm gathers over trade corridor" (April 23, 2007)br>Big Bend Sentinel "Midland city council amends La Entrada resolution to support Big Bend communities" (April 12, 2007)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070928142643/http://www.oaoa.com/onset?id=600&template=article.html Odessa American "Trucking or Tranquility" (April 15, 2007)br>Terrell County News Leader "'La Entrada' gets airing" (March 23, 2007)
* ttp://www.alpineavalanche.com/articles/2007/03/15/news/news01.txt Alpine Avalanche "Citizens turn out to protest 'La Entrada'" (March 15, 2007)br>Odessa American "La Entrada Opponents Speak Out" (March 21, 2007)StopTheTrucks.orgwww.la-entrada-al-pacifico.comMOTRANLa Entrada planners fault opponents' 'scare tactics'
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Entrada al Pacifico United States federal transportation legislation Ector County, Texas Midland County, Texas Crane County, Texas Upton County, Texas Dawson County, Texas Pecos County, Texas Presidio County, Texas Transportation in Chihuahua (state) Sinaloa