(The Center Square) – Workers have successfully linked borders on the construction of a new Michigan-Canada bridge.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which links the shores of Detroit and Windsor, is officially considered a border crossing now that the bridge deck was completed this week. Now that the span is complete, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.
“Canada and the United States can do big things if we stand together. We do them together, and we rise together,” said Irek Kusmierczyk, a member of Parliament Windsor—Tecumseh, Ontario.
While the span has taken six years to complete due to delays during the pandemic, it still has a year until it is open to the public. The bridge, named after a Canadian hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings, will measure 1.5 miles long and 720 feet high.
Gordie Howe is the first new border crossing between Michigan and Ontario in more than 60 years, and will be used primarily for trade.
“Making connections is what the Gordie Howe International Bridge is all about,” said Charl van Niekerk, the CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. “While we celebrate the physical deck connection today, it gives us the opportunity to look to the very near future when we will see truck drivers make their way to deliver their freight to market, commuters heading to work and back home again, and tourists enjoying the views that bond our two countries from the multi-use path. We look forward to opening for business in fall 2025.”
