The Detroit River crossing known as the Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to open in early 2026 with a separate multiuse path that will let people walk or bike into Canada for the first time in decades, in addition to driving, according to project officials. The bridge will also be built with vehicle lanes intended to improve options for drivers and ease congestion at other crossings.
As of Nov. 13, the project was about 98% complete, officials said, and construction began in 2018. Although an official opening date had not been announced at the time of the report, officials said they expect the bridge to open early next year.
Heather Grondin, the chief relations officer for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, said people wanted planners to avoid losing the chance to incorporate pedestrian and cycling access into a new international crossing. “People didn’t want us to lose a unique opportunity to design a new international crossing without considering the incorporation of a multiuse path for pedestrians and cyclists,” she said.
The bridge is designed to provide six lanes for vehicular traffic, three in each direction. Officials said the additional crossing is expected to alleviate slowdowns on the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, the latter of which the story describes as having four lanes for traffic.
Grondin said the bridge and related infrastructure will connect directly from Interstate 75 to Ontario’s highway system, known as Highway 401, without trucks or cars having to stop at traffic lights along the way. “This bridge, along with the adjacent infrastructure, will connect directly from Interstate 75 to the Ontario highway system, known as Highway 401, without trucks or cars having to stop at traffic lights along the way,” she said.
In the case of backups, Grondin said cars would be contained within the port of entry to avoid traffic congestion on I-75, and trucks would be required to turn their engine off during inspection to reduce noise and air pollution. She also said project planners worked to ensure people would have a destination when crossing the multiuse path and could connect to broader trail networks. “We’ve done a lot of work to ensure that … people will have a destination when they go across the multiuse path and will be able to connect to much broader trail networks,” Grondin said.
The story describes the Gordie Howe project as being in planning for more than 20 years. It also recounts that in 2012, then-Gov. Rick Snyder and Canada’s prime minister announced an agreement for a publicly owned Windsor-Detroit bridge crossing.
Jeff Rightmer, a professor of supply chain management at Wayne State University, said the project responds to concerns about how the Ambassador Bridge has been owned and controlled. “The Ambassador Bridge is basically privately owned and controlled by one family, and I think there was nervousness around that,” Rightmer said. He added that the new bridge would alleviate some of the monopoly he said the Moroun family had. “The new bridge alleviates some of that monopoly that the Moroun family had.”
Rightmer said the financing structure also made the project more attractive to the U.S., including Michigan. “I think it made it much more attractive to the U.S., specifically Michigan, (for Canada) to take on a lot of that debt,” he said, adding, “You can tell that Canada really wanted to get it done.”
The story says the roughly $4.4 billion project is funded through the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, and financed in Canadian dollars, according to the Federal Highway Administration. It also says that because the Canadian government paid for the bridge, it will recoup toll revenue and receive ongoing capital and availability payments to operate, maintain and rehabilitate the project for the next 36 years.
For people traveling on foot or by bike, the story says pedestrians and cyclists will enter through a separate port and still be required to show proper identification, either a passport or an enhanced license. It also says the Gordie Howe Bridge will be the only Michigan-to-Canada bridge that allows foot and bike traffic, joining a limited set of U.S.-Canadian crossings that have pedestrian lanes.
The report also touched on the Detroit Free Press International Marathon, which crosses the Ambassador Bridge to Canada and returns through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Aaron Velthoven, the race’s executive producer, said there are no plans to change the course in the near future, saying the Gordie Howe Bridge is farther from where the marathon traditionally starts and finishes and would require a dramatic change to the start and finish locations. He said the Ambassador Bridge is early in the course from the race’s perspective despite its steep incline. Both the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordie Howe bridge were described as being about 150 feet above the Detroit River at their highest point.