# Colombia versus Nuevo Laredo Crossings



## circle110

When I drove across the border for the first time a year ago the general consensus on this forum (as well as other places) seemed to be that the extra drive to cross at Colombia was worth it because it was simpler and less crowded. 

I crossed there and it was easy and fast. I have returned to the US twice in the last year and crossed both ways both times at Colombia. However, the last time I re-entered Mexico at Colombia I got nailed for speeding in the trap on Mex-2 heading back to Mex-85. There is a short area where the limit drops from 80 to 60 - nothing more than a speed trap - and they got me for 80 in a 60. I had been warned by this forum and was carefully going 80, I just didn't see the sign where it dropped to 60. Damn... oh well, a small bribe and we were on our way again.

Anyway, that event, plus reading some comments in this forum, got me to thinking that maybe it would be better to just cross at Nuevo Laredo when we go back for Thanksgiving in San Antonio. The only possible complication is that my Mexican fiancee will have to get a new permission for the interior since her previous one ran out last month and that may take a while at the more crowded Laredo crossings.

So, what are your opinions? Is it better to just cross at Laredo or is it worth it to go out of my way to Colombia? I'm not keen on the idea of being in Nuevo Laredo but we would arrive about noon so it's not like we'd be there at night.
If your answer is Laredo, then which of the bridges would be the easiest to 1) cross into the US at noon and 2) return to Mexico at 9:00 am. a week later.

Thanks!


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## ReefHound

I don't think it's worth it to cross at Colombia and it's certainly not the consensus in other forums. For one thing, you'll spend 45 minutes driving just to cover the extra miles. For another, not only is that stretch of road (Mx2) notorious for cops fishing for mordida but there is also a lot of narco activity along it.

You won't be in Nvo Laredo for long. Once you're done with immigration (if you don't take care of it online), you'll follow the periferico around to Mx2 and be at the interior checkpoint in 20 minutes.

Btw, you can get the vehicle permit online at the Banjercito website as long as you do it at least 10 days before departure.


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## circle110

Thanks Reefhound. I assume the advice is the same for the initial crossing from Mexico into the US?

The online permit won't help because we won't be in the US for 10 days. Well, unless I can do it online now but I still have a current permit that I will have to cancel as I depart, so I don't know that they would allow me a new one while I still have an active one for the same vehicle.

BTW - is the Banjercito booth easy to locate as I leave the country? I seem to remember hearing that it is somewhat out of the way at Nuevo Laredo.


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## RVGRINGO

I'll also vote for Nuevo Laredo these days, in spite of the inconvenience of finding Banjercito, especially outbound. Your planned timing for the crossings is good. Just be sure to have a CD of "Streets of Laredo" playing as you pass through.


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## ReefHound

circle110 said:


> Thanks Reefhound. I assume the advice is the same for the initial crossing from Mexico into the US?
> 
> The online permit won't help because we won't be in the US for 10 days. Well, unless I can do it online now but I still have a current permit that I will have to cancel as I depart, so I don't know that they would allow me a new one while I still have an active one for the same vehicle.
> 
> BTW - is the Banjercito booth easy to locate as I leave the country? I seem to remember hearing that it is somewhat out of the way at Nuevo Laredo.


I know their online system is very good so it will detect an outstanding permit and not issue another one. However, in my experience the permit has never taken more than 4 or 5 days to be delivered but their site says to allow at least 10 days and it may block issuing one that the departure is less than 10 days out. I guess you are stuck on that one.

As for the caseta de permiso retorno, there are actually some right on the road leading out. Donaldo Colosio Blvd is 3 or 4 lanes wide going out, and the left two lanes go through a booth where they can scan and cancel the permit. However, one time I had a problem with their scanner not reading and they said I would have to go to the main immigration building. Well, there is nowhere to turn around readily and I didn't want to wait an hour or so to get through customs only to turn around back to Mexico and then wait again. I raised cane until an official moved some barricades and let me cut through an employee parking lot to Nvo Laredo streets. Not sure that would happen again so I suggest going to the main building. You reach it by turning right at a traffic light from Colosio onto a two lane road that runs parallel then under the bridge to the main building. Come back the same way and get back on Colosio. It's really only a few km and ten minutes out of the way, once you know where to turn. 

If this google map link pulls up the sat view I have on my screen, you should see the bridge going to the USA with four empty lanes.

You may need to toggle on and off road labels to see everything and understand it.

To the left of the bridge is a building with a roof that is gray with two reddish horizontal lines. That is the main immigration bldg and the return kiosk is in the parking lot at the west end.

Coming to Mexico from USA on the bridge are three lanes, the one that veers to the right is for buses and the other two go straight to the customs lanes under that gray roof structure. Just to the right of incoming Mexican customs, on the midpoint of the turn for the northbound lanes, is the bridge toll plaza. To the right (east) of this is another whitish roof, that is the car permit return booths. This is where I ahd the problem and they had to move barriers to let me cut back to Jesus Carranza. 

Incidentally, they show Colosio as the two lane road going under the bridge to the immigration bldg parking lot and the bridge road as 15 de Junio. If you pan to the right several screens to the intersection with Calle Hidalgo, that is where the two intersect. I don't recall the signs to know if the road switches names here as shown or if google has it mixed up. But if you turn off the labels you can clearly see the two lane road parallel the main exit road aways before leading away and going under the bridge.

Pan to the north and you can see cars backed up about halfway across the bridge. That is about a 45 minute wait. I've seen it backed up to where the small road and exit road is parallel, that is about a 90-120 minute wait.

When it's backed up before the bridge toll plaza, there will be lots of locals walking in between the waiting cars wanting to sell you stuff or wash your windows. They have always been passive in my experience.

When you return, take the lanes straight through Mexican customs, on the other side make the first left onto Calle Bravo and go east until it ends at Colosio. Go right until you get to the red light intersection of Calle Hidalgo and then left onto the two lane road that loops back under the bridge to the main immigration bldg.


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## RVGRINGO

Now you know why we prefer to cross at Nuevo Progresso, Tamaulipas. It is a one-stop-shop and if there is a line, we know some good restaurants, where we can wait until traffic abates.
Nuevo Progresso is a daytime only crossing for INM and Aduana/Banjercito, and is south of Weslaco, TX, but not on many road maps. Nice little town, too; popular with "Winter Texans" for medical/dental, shopping & eating & music, etc.


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## conklinwh

RV Gringos last statement brings up an interesting trade off. If you were coming from Houston, this a no brainer although we prefer Los Indios versus Progreso. However from San Antonio, you are adding 2-3 hours to the border versus potential time crossing at Laredo.
You do save a lot of tolls but not sure possible to drive from San Antonio to Guanajuato via either McAllen or Harlingen in one day without a lot of night time driving, especially this time of year, unless you left San Antonio 4-5AM. We do have a friend that drives from the state of Guanajuato to San Antonio and back in one day each way about once a month via Laredo.


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## Roadtripper

we just crossed at the nuevo laredo crossing and it went extremely smooth. we had to do some paperwork on the nuevo laredo side so we stayed in a hotel on the east side of town right up against the river. it was a holiday inn express and was very nice, safe, and priced good for what you got. we drove around nuevo laredo all day going in and out of the city 2 different times and found it very nice. to be honest it felt safer to us there than in laredo texas. if you drive over the border there check out google maps and you can see all the routes. the best route is to cross the border (get your paperwork done--there were no lines when we crossed in the morning), go east and follow the periferico all the way around the city. it has very little traffic. then, go under a bridge and go left and get on the cuoto. smooth sailing from there. good luck.


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## ReefHound

Roadtripper said:


> we just crossed at the nuevo laredo crossing and it went extremely smooth. we had to do some paperwork on the nuevo laredo side so we stayed in a hotel on the east side of town right up against the river. it was a holiday inn express and was very nice, safe, and priced good for what you got. we drove around nuevo laredo all day going in and out of the city 2 different times and found it very nice. to be honest it felt safer to us there than in laredo texas. if you drive over the border there check out google maps and you can see all the routes. the best route is to cross the border (get your paperwork done--there were no lines when we crossed in the morning), go east and follow the periferico all the way around the city. it has very little traffic. then, go under a bridge and go left and get on the cuoto. smooth sailing from there. good luck.


Hmmm, crossing the border in the early morning and not getting all my permits until late afternoon is hardly how I would define a "smooth" crossing. I think the longest it ever took me was two hours, and now that I get the car permits online the crossings take me 15 minutes.

I would also like to point out that "feeling" safe is not the same thing as being safe. You may have luckily picked one of the calm days or simply not be recognizing the dangers you are seeing. Ignorance is not always bliss. I wouldn't advise just driving around the town for the fun of it.


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## Roadtripper

We were permanentally importing a car so we had some extra paperwork to do. if we were temporarily importing the car we would have been in and out in a couple hours. the only time was to actually import the car. we did not get stopped once otherwise at the border or at km 26. in fact, when we got our visa we were the only ones in line. so, i guess i should have clarified that it was smooth because we experienced no problems, lines, traffic, headaches, etc and only had to take the time to permanentally import our car. i would say, if anything, we were the opposite of ignorant. we were overly aware and overly attentive to everything, especially with all we read and heard before leaving. i was relatively nervous before arriving to Nuevo Laredo and didn´t sleep well the nite before anticpating all of the things we needed to do the next day to import (permanentally) our car into mexico.

as far as being safe, i have travelled in every country in north, central and and almost all countries in south america and have at some times felt unsafe or uncomfortable. in this case, i did not feel unsafe and we spoke and talked to many people about the situation and felt we were ok. I realize that bad things can happend and that at any time something can go wrong. My thoughts on this forum were to let people know that we personally did not have any problems and to help people to understand what it was like for us so that maybe it will help on their own trip. To each his-her own.


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## ReefHound

I was not calling you ignorant, not that that is even a pejorative. It simply means unaware. That was a parlay on the famous axiom "ignorance is bliss".

I'll stand by the statement that "feeling safe" is not the same as "being safe" and is not a good method of determining one's risk.


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## circle110

Thanks for all the feedback, especially the extensive reply by ReefHound. We are leaving Guanajuato on Tuesday and we'll cross on Wednesday. 

There is one thing I still don't see -- where is the Banjercito booth so I can cancel my car permit as we leave?


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## ReefHound

I covered that in my post.


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## circle110

You're right, it's there in the second paragraph. Sorry for my temporary blindness.


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