Laredo, TX
The busiest U.S. trade port runs its trains through downtown streets.
Summary
| Metro | Other |
|---|---|
| Railroads | CPKC (Texas Mexican Ry) · Union Pacific |
| Open at-grade crossings | 112 |
| Vehicles a day crossing tracks at grade | 183,701 |
| Busiest crossing in the model | San Bernardo Ave (793559B): 12,265 vehicles/day, 13 trains/day |
| Growth driver | Busiest U.S. trade port ($354B in 2025) |
| Funding | 2 awards on record (see below) |
| Data source | FRA Crossing Inventory, retrieved Oct 2, 2026 |
Blockage scenario
Time
$860K
40,035 person-hours a year
Trade
1,063
truck-hours a year, worth $38K in driver time
Pollution
66 t
CO₂ from 7,261 gallons idled, like 14 cars for a year
Example scenario. Laredo hasn't published blockage counts; the city council is seeking an agreement with the railroad.
| Blockages modeled per crossing per year | 364 |
|---|---|
| Vehicles stopped by one blockage | 440 |
| Trucks stopped by one blockage | 18 |
| Person-hours lost per year | 40,035 |
| Value of lost time per year | $860K |
| Truck-hours idled per year | 1,063 |
| Gallons of fuel idled per year | 7,261 |
| CO₂ per year (metric tons) | 66 |
Screening estimate. Each selected crossing is blocked for the set time; drivers wait half of it on average. Method and sources
Crossings in the model
| Crossing | USDOT ID | Vehicles/day | Trains/day | Trucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 793559B | 12,265 | 13 | 4% | |
| 793598S | 9,990 | 13 | 3% | |
| 793582V | 9,436 | 13 | 5% |
Uncheck a crossing to remove it from the scenario. "~" truck shares use the city's traffic-weighted average where the inventory reports none.
On the record
- Port Laredo handled $354B in two-way trade and 213,008 rail cars from Mexico in 2025.
FreightWaves · Mar 3, 2026 ↗ - The city council is seeking an agreement to prevent blockages. One obstacle cited is that some train crews are in Mexico.
KGNS · Aug 7, 2025 ↗ - Funding FY2022 CRISI: up to $4,000,000 for downtown rail corridor planning.
Source ↗ - Funding State grant: $58.51M for the Santa Maria Blvd grade separation.
Source ↗