What is the Border Master Plan?

     Border master plans are important to (a) evaluate current and planned future capacity of ports of entry (POE) and the binational 
transportation infrastructure serving POEs, (b) evaluate current and anticipated future demand, and (c) to prioritize future required 
investments through a process of consultation to serve anticipated cross border demand over the short, medium, and long term. 
Border master plans thus serve as a binational effort to coordinate planning and prioritize projects at land POEs and for 
transportation infrastructure serving those POEs in a specific border region.

    The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has contracted with the Center for Transportation Research at The University 
of Texas (CTR) to develop the first border master plan for Texas (Border Master Plan). The preliminary study area is currently defined 
as TxDOT’s Laredo District and a corresponding area in Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Coahuila.

    The Border Master Plan will be developed in two phases. The objective of Phase 1 is to establish the level of support and 
commitment of  key stakeholders in Texas and Mexico to the development of a Laredo – Coahuila / Nuevo Leon / Tamaulipas Border 
Master Plan. The cooperation and commitment of key stakeholders at the federal, state, local, regional, and private sector level is 
critical to the successful development of the Border Master Plan.

    Given adequate support and commitment from key stakeholders, the final Border Master Plan will be developed in Phase 2. 
Specifically, the study team is tasked with: 
         •ensuring a stakeholder involvement process that is inclusive and ensures the participation of all involved in POE projects and 
          the transportation infrastructure serving those POEs
         •increasing the understanding of the POE and transportation planning processes on both sides of the border
         •prioritizing and promoting POE and related transportation infrastructure projects to serve anticipated demand over the 
           short, medium, and long term
         •establishing a process for continued dialogue among federal, state, regional, and local stakeholders in Texas and Mexico to 
          ensure continued coordination on current and future POE and supporting transportation infrastructure needs and projects.


Any questions or concerns can be addressed to the Research Supervisor Jolanda Prozzi at 
border-master-plan[at]austin.utexas.edu or call (512) 232-3079.