Those who have been laboring to expand the Mariposa Port of Entry for more than six years will finally get some relief when the first shovel of dirt is turned on Thursday morning.

Expansion of $199.4 million Mariposa POE

A ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. with dignitaries from throughout Arizona, Sonora, and Sinaloa expected to be in attendance. They will include Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and her Sonoran counterpart, Guillermo Padres Elias.

An invitation-only luncheon is scheduled immediately following the groundbreaking ceremony at a local produce warehouse.

The groundbreaking will mark the beginning of a project for which the United States government has allocated more than $199 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is one of the largest projects undertaken for the General Services Administration, the fed’s property managing agency.

The Mariposa port project took nearly two-thirds of the $300 million in the Recovery Act for renovating and construction at land ports of entry.

Prior to receiving the construction money, more than $13.7 million had been spent on design, site acquisition and other preparatory work.

"After many years of hard work, I am glad that one of the nation’s oldest ports of entry will get the attention it vitally deserves," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told the Nogales International in an e-mail.

As governor of Arizona, Napolitano worked with local stakeholders and the Arizona congressional delegation to obtain funding. She is not expected to attend the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.

Largely through the efforts of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, the project also gained wide support not just from the Arizona congressional delegation, but from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and GSA.

The GSA’s Mexican counterpart, National Institute of Administration of National Assets, meanwhile, last year budgeted funding to plan an expansion component both at the port to complement the Mariposa project, and at inspection facilities 13 kilometers south of the border.

The Mariposa project calls for increasing the number of lanes from the current eight to 20; eight lanes for commercial vehicles and 12 lanes for non-commercial vehicles, making it one of the largest ports on the Mexican border. By comparison, the border at San Ysidro, Calif., has 24 lanes.

When completed in 2013 and at full capacity, the Mariposa Port of Entry will be capable of processing a projected 1. 2 million trucks annually.

"Once complete, Mariposa will have the latest technology and newest infrastructure that will allow us to strengthen security and improve trade between Mexico and the United States," Napolitano said.

Safety is vital said U.S. Rep. Raul M Grijalva, D-Ariz., in an interview shortly after the funding was approved. “Safety along our border is vital as Arizona continues to become more important in trade with Mexico. The funding is crucial in modernizing border infrastructure that will enhance security while promoting economic development and improving the quality of life in the border region.”

JB Manson, chairman of the port authority, said, “This project is critical to the long-term growth and sustainability of our bi-national community. This will make Nogales more competitive, our region more prosperous and the nation much safer.”

Mariposa is Arizona’s largest gateway for international trade with nearly 300,000 tucks, 450,000 pedestrians and more than 1.2 million cars per year. Arizona State University Researchers forecast this volume will double by 2025.

About 4 billion pounds of fresh produce is shipped through Mariposa each year, or more than one third of the fresh produce consumed in the United States during the winter months.