Travelers can now access a new southbound pedestrian crossing to Mexico at the San Ysidro Pedestrian West facility (PedWest).

The access opened for the first time and without an inauguration ceremony on Monday, July 31.

The new southbound crossing will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. The existing pedestrian crossing at San Ysidro, Pedestrian East, continues to operate 24 hours a day.

Victor Emilio Corzo Aceves, consul in charge at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, said to La Prensa San Diego that the new southbound crossing would operate the same as other port of entry into Mexico with the presence of Mexican immigration and customs officers.

“It’s an impressive benefit to have more modern facilities and a higher number of crossings from the United States to Mexico and vice versa. The new crossing at PedWest is a response to the economic and commercial needs we have nowadays, and is also a response from authorities to a social need,” Corzo Aceves added. “Having a higher number of crossings will always make the border crossing faster. I don’t think that the number of travelers increases, but people that already cross the border will have more options. It’s going to be more comfortable for them no matter where they go.”

The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the busiest land border crossing in the world with approximately 27 million vehicle crossings and 14 million pedestrian crossings every year.

“This opening marks another step forward in upgrading the infrastructure at our nation’s busiest border crossing,” said Pete Flores, director of Field Operations for the San Diego Field Office of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “We are pleased to work with our partners in Mexico and the U.S. at continually upgrading the traveler experience.”

The PedWest facility is located at 495 Virginia Avenue in San Ysidro, next to Outlets at the Border shopping mall. The crossing was open to pedestrian travelling northbound in July 2016, and with pedestrians able to cross southbound as well as northbound at the new facility, PedWest is now completely open.

The PedWest facility is connected to a transportation hub on the U.S. side, and also features a Sentri enrollment office, I-94 processing, and other benefits for travelers.

The new PedWest building is part of the ongoing reconstruction project at the San Ysidro port of entry, led by the United States General Services Administration.