Pharr city leaders broke ground Wednesday on one of the additions for their bridge expansion project.

New inspection areas for trucks are being added to the Pharr International Bridge.

A new, on-site lab is also being constructed to look for pests in shipments that arrive from Mexico. 

“It’s something that's needed in order to make sure that this traffic gets off the bridge,” Pharr International Bridge Director Luis Bazan said. “We're not building bridges to become parking lots. We’re building bridges to have efficiency.”

According to the city, the Pharr International Bridge is the busiest port for produce crossings in the nation. It’s also third in the nation for trade with Mexico.