Gordie Howe International Bridge

About

The Gordie Howe International Bridge (French: Pont International Gordie Howe), known during development as the Detroit River International Crossing and the New International Trade Crossing, is a cable-stayed international bridge across the Detroit River. The crossing connects Detroit, Michigan, United States with Windsor, Ontario, Canada by linking Interstate 75 in Michigan with Highway 401 in Ontario (through the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway extension of Highway 401). Once opened, the bridge will provide uninterrupted freeway traffic flow, as opposed to the current configuration with the nearby Ambassador Bridge that connects to city streets on the Ontario side. The bridge is named after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, whose celebrated career included 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings, and who died two years before construction began. First proposed in the early 2000s, the project was met with prominent opposition by Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun, who believed competition from a publicly owned bridge would reduce his revenue. A Canadian federal Crown corporation, the Windsor–Detroit Bridge Authority, was established in 2012 to coordinate the bridge's construction...

2km 1.2miles 4 3 2 1 Crossings of the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is on the north bank of this stretch of river. Because Detroit is generally north and west of Windsor, people travelling from the United States to Canada travel south. 1 Detroit–Windsor Tunnel (1930) 2 Michigan Central Railway Tunnel (1910) 3 Ambassador Bridge (1929) 4 Gordie Howe International Bridge (2026)

The passage across the Detroit River between the United States and Canada has been an important traffic route since the American Civil War, with ferries transporting goods and people across the river. A railway tunnel ( Michigan Central Railway Tunnel ) was opened in July 1910, a suspension bridge for road traffic ( Ambassador Bridge ) opened in November 1929, and a road tunnel ( Detroit–Windsor Tunnel ) opened in 1930.

The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest crossing on the Canada–United States border, with nearly 25% of U.S.–Canada border crossings by trucks using the bridge. The Detroit crossings have particular significance for maintaining the supply chains of the automotive industries of the United States and Canada. Automotive trade between the two countries has increased from US$32 billion in 1995 to US$51 billion in 2023. The crossings play a part in the daily lives of 5,000 Canadian commuters who work in neighbouring Detroit.

The Ambassador Bridge has been criticized for its monopoly status (as large trucks are not permitted to use the tunnel), private ownership by billionaire Manuel Moroun and poor maintenance record. Both the bridge and the road tunnel lack direct highway connections on the Canadian side, with city streets and traffic lights between them and Ontario Highway 401.

In the early 2000s, work was begun to investigate the need for a future crossing of the Detroit River by a bi-national partnership of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Transport Canada, Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). During development, the project was known as the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) and the New International Trade Crossing.

In 2004, a joint announcement by the federal government of the United States and Government of Canada confirmed a new border crossing would be constructed between Detroit and Windsor. A bi-national committee was formed to manage the project. An extension of Ontario Highway 401 to the future bridge was also proposed – construction on this extension began in 2011, with the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway opening in 2015.

The various environmental approvals for the project were approved in both the United States and Canada in 2009.

In 2009, the Ohio State Senate passed a non-binding resolution expressing support for the crossing, and urged the Michigan government to pass it, due to Canada being Ohio's largest foreign trade partner, with US$35.8 billion per year in goods traded between Ohio and Canada. In 2011, the bridge was tentatively scheduled for completion in 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. It was estimated the bridge would generate $70.4 million in toll revenues in its first year of operation.

In 2010, the Michigan Senate had not approved any authorizing legislation related to the bridge. The Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop had stated that the Senate would not vote until revenue forecasts were released, reports that were being withheld by the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. The Michigan House of Representatives had already passed the measure while the bill was called "doomed" in the Senate.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder supported construction of the new crossing in his first State of the State address on January 19, 2011. His plan would leverage Canadian money to receive a 160 percent match—totaling $2.2 billion—on funding from the Federal Highway Administration in a deal reached the week previous to the speech. In August 2011, Michigan State Senator Mike Kowall, when asked by the Windsor Star if enabling legislation for the bridge would currently pass, replied "absolutely not".

In October 2011, the Michigan Senate "rejected a bill [that] would have allowed the state to accept $550 million from the Canadian government to fund the country's share" of the bridge. One commentator, Bill Mann, noted the rejection, saying "Canada calls the new bridge its biggest infrastructure priority and has even offered to pay for the span. But pesky U.S. special-interest politics intrude once again", as he reviewed a number of "U.S. government actions (and inactions) that show little concern about Canadian concerns". Mann drew from a Maclean's article sub-titled "We used to be friends" about U.S.–Canada relations after the Keystone Pipeline, the bridge, and other "insulting" decisions.

In June 2012, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced an agreement allowing the project to proceed. The Canadian federal government would fund bridge construction, land acquisition in Michigan and the construction of Interstate 75 on-ramps. The Canadian contribution will be repaid from bridge tolls collected on the Canadian side, and no tolls will be charged on the U.S. side. The crossing agreement also included community benefits for residents on both sides of the Detroit River, including improvements to local neighbourhoods affected by bridge construction. Although paid for by Canada, the bridge would be owned equally by Canada and the state of Michigan.

On April 12, 2013, the Obama administration granted Michigan the permit required to build the bridge, allowing construction to go forward once details were finalized. In May 2014, the United States Coast Guard issued a bridge permit, the final federal approval required. A Canadian federal Crown corporation, the Windsor–Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) began work in July 2014 to coordinate the bridge's construction and management.

The Canadian government allocated US$25 million to begin land acquisition on the Detroit side on May 22, 2013. In January 2015, Parsons Corporation was named the general engineering consultant for the bridge. On February 18, 2015, Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced Canada would fund the construction of a customs plaza on the U.S. side of the bridge in Detroit's Delray neighborhood. The plaza would have a budget of around US$250 million, and be recouped through tolls. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security would provide a first-year investment of US$150 million, and an "ongoing annual requirement" of US$50 million, to cover the plaza's operational and staffing costs.

On May 14, 2015, during an event attended by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it was officially announced that the bridge would be known as the Gordie Howe International Bridge after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, whose career included twenty-five years with the Detroit Red Wings.

In July 2015, WDBA began work procuring a consortium who would design, build and finance the construction of the bridge, as well as operate and maintain it over a 30-year period. The cost of building the Gordie Howe International Bridge escalated by CA$3.5 billion as the value of the Canadian dollar declined in 2015–2016. In January 2016, it was reported, due to exchange rates and increased inflation, costs could rise to CA$4.8 billion.

In July 2016, it was announced many properties that would be required to build the bridge were still in the hands of private landowners. Some properties on the American side of the river were owned by Manuel Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge. An estimated 30 of the 900 properties needed were considered to be problems if the owners resist selling. In July 2016, CBC News reported that Dwight Duncan, the former finance minister for Ontario, had advised the Government of Canada to consider buying the Ambassador Bridge from Moroun.

In a joint statement released after a meeting between newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on February 13, 2017, the two governments reiterated the support of the "expeditious completion" of the project. It was listed as a priority infrastructure project by the Donald Trump administration.

In June 2017, the City of Detroit sold 36 city-owned parcels of land, underground assets and five miles of city-owned streets in the Delray neighborhood, which is the site of the U.S. Customs facility. A US$33 million neighborhood improvement fund for the neighborhood was set up. Residents of the area can stay and have their home renovated or move to a renovated home in a different neighborhood.