Gordie Howe bridge on track for September completion, opening to traffic later in the fall
Posted By: The Detroit News on March 11, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is on track to open to drivers in the fall, project officials said Tuesday.
During a quarterly project update at the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority community office in southwest Detroit, officials said the project is on schedule for construction to wrap up in September, with the bridge opening to traffic sometime later in the fall.
“I don’t know if that’s going to be October or November, it really depends on construction season, and we need to ensure that all our systems, processes are working before we open,” said Heather Grondin, chief relations officer for the authority.
The bridge spans the Detroit River, connecting southwest Detroit to northwest Windsor.
The bridge deck itself took six years to build and was fully connected by last August. Since then, crews have installed stay cables and are now working on remaining steps like completing the multi-use path, applying protective finishings to the cables, and installing electrical, drainage and fire suppression systems, plus signs, lighting and fencing.
Construction of the buildings and structures at ports of entry to both the U.S. and Canada are complete and the focus there now is on “interior finishing,” as well as paving, landscaping and fence installation.
The bridge links Interstate 75 with Highway 401 in Ontario. Workers have completed associated projects to improve ramps and service drives that connect communities on either side of I-75. Five pedestrian bridges over I-75 at Solvay, Beard, Waterman, Junction and Lansing streets still are under construction.
Crews also are focused on installing lights, signs and pavement markings on the connecting ramps between I-75 and the U.S. port of entry.
Asked whether there had been any problem staffing the new port of entry, given the confusion some U.S. offices have reported in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce, Grondin said she was not aware of any issues.
The authority is considering options for celebrating the bridge’s grand opening. When the $5.7 billion project is complete, at 150 feet above the Detroit River and 720 feet high, the Gordie Howe International Bridge will be the largest Canadian and U.S. land port along the border and, at 1.5 miles, among the top 10 longest bridges in North America.
The Gordie Howe, financed by the Canadian federal government, will compete with the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which provides direct access in the U.S. to I-75 and Interstate 96 and in Ontario to Highway 3.
An estimated 6,000 people are expected to commute to Detroit from Ontario each day via the bridge, the authority has said. In 2024, CBC News in Canada reported that early traffic estimates showed the new bridge could take on about 60% of the Ambassador’s traffic.
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