Michel Marizco/KJZZ

Govs. Doug Ducey and Claudia Pavlovich were debriefed on a series of port infrastructure projects during the Arizona-Mexico Commission summit in Tucson on June 15, 2018.

Arizona Gov.  Doug Ducey announced funding for a major project to build out the road leading to Arizona’s largest shipping port of entry at the Mexican border. 

Ducey  announced the funding of $134 million to build out the highway leading from the Mariposa Port of Entry out to Interstate 19.

"It’s one of the biggest projects ever seen in rural Arizona," said Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski.

The governor announced the funding during a debrief on border infrastructure at the Arizona-Mexico Commission Summit in Tucson.

The road connects to the large shipping port 2,000 to 5,000 trucks a day that share the road with locals, businesses, and high school students. The lack of a road also added to Arizona's international shipping woes as companies in Mexico have preferred using New Mexico and even Texas rather than take on Arizona's easily clogged state route.

"Not only that, it’s also an efficient part to get those trucks straight from the port of entry straight to their distributorships so that product can get shipped out," said Jaime Chamberlain, president of JC Distributing in Nogales.

He and other local business leaders have been trying to upgrade the route for nearly a decade.