(The Associated Press issued the following on October 1.)
SANTA TERESA, N.M. — Officials on both sides of New Mexico’s international border with Mexico expressed support for a proposed railroad bypass and international rail crossing in southern Dona Ana County.
Gov. Bill Richardson met Tuesday with Mexican communications secretary Luis Tellez and other government and railroad officials. Richardson said support for the project on both sides of the border should help move it forward.
Under the plan, rail traffic in the congested border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, would be shifted west to Santa Teresa.
Richardson said a bypass and rail crossing is fundamental to increasing trade between the United States and Mexico and will provide “a huge boost to the economy of southern New Mexico.”