Gordie Howe International Bridge

Gordie Howe International Bridge, cable-stayed international bridge crossing the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Detroit, Michigan, U.S. The bridge opened to vehicular traffic on July 27, 2026. It is about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) long, making it the 10th longest cable-stayed bridge in the world and the longest in North America. It is named for Gordie Howe, an iconic Canadian professional ice hockey player who spent nearly his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings.

History

The Detroit-Windsor corridor is a significant trade crossing between the United States and Canada. Automobile industries on both sides of the border rely on trade in components across this corridor. Apart from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the only international route crossing the Detroit River and serving these supply chains was the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which opened in 1929. The volume of trade crossing the bridge amounts to about U.S. $323 million per day, about U.S. $50 million of which comes from trade in automotive parts alone. Owing to the large volume of trade through the corridor, U.S. and Canadian authorities conducted a study on cross-border traffic and proposed building a second bridge to serve as an additional trade crossing that would increase the corridor’s capacity. A formal study of the viability and environmental impact of a new Detroit River crossing began in 2005 through a joint U.S.-Canadian effort known as the Detroit River International Crossing study.

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge opposed construction of the new bridge, worrying that a publicly-owned competing bridge would harm their business. They supported a 2012 Michigan ballot measure to halt the construction of the new bridge, but voters rejected it. Subsequent lawsuits to stay the construction also failed, and the public project continued, though owners of the Ambassador Bridge would try to claim damages for losses suffered through the construction.

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After environmental approvals were secured in both countries in 2009, Canada and the state of Michigan signed the Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement on June 15, 2012, providing the legal framework for the project. However, conservative voices in the majority-Republican Michigan legislature opposed funding the bridge. Therefore, Canada committed to covering Michigan’s share of construction costs, to be recovered through future toll revenues. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority was incorporated in October 2012 to oversee the administration of the project. A U.S. presidential permit was issued in 2013, followed by a U.S. Coast Guard bridge permit in 2014. In 2015 the bridge was officially given the name Gordie Howe International Bridge. In July 2018 the Bridging North America consortium was selected as the private-sector construction partner under a public-private partnership model. Funding arrangements for the project were finalized in September 2018, allowing construction to begin.

Construction was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially because of the complexities involved in securing permissions to resume construction in two different countries, delaying the expected opening date to 2025. In June 2024 the two halves of the bridge deck extending from the Windsor and Detroit sides of the project were connected, marking a major construction milestone. By late 2025 the construction was largely completed, after an overall expenditure of nearly U.S. $5 billion. However, the consortium said it would take more time to run technology testing, and reports suggested delays in completing and handing over the ports of entry (POEs). Therefore, the opening was delayed to early 2026, but further technical and political delays pushed it back several more months. The bridge opened to vehicular traffic on July 27, 2026.

Features

The Gordie Howe International Bridge hosts six lanes of vehicular traffic and a pathway, separated from traffic by a barrier, designed for pedestrians and cyclists. The pathway opened to the public on August 5, 2026. The bridge connects to Interstate 75 in Michigan and Highway 401 in Ontario.

The project also includes substantial POEs at both ends of the crossing. These facilities house customs and border inspection operations for passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, as well as tolling infrastructure and security installations. Covering approximately 130 acres (53 hectares) in Windsor and 167 acres (68 hectares) in Detroit, the POEs rank among the largest land border-crossing complexes in North America.

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The bridge features towers about 722 feet (220 meters) high and relies on cables to support a vast section of the deck. Therefore, the bridge has no piers in the water, giving it a 2,800-foot (853-meter) clear span (the space between two piers), the longest main span among cable-stayed bridges in North America.

Controversy in 2026

In February 2026 U.S. Pres. Donald Trump sparked fears of closure for the bridge when it was near completion by posting on his social media site, Truth Social, saying he would not allow it to open “until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.” President Trump accused the Canadian government of bypassing the Buy American Act of 1933—a U.S. law requiring the federal government to give preference to domestically produced goods in its procurement—by exclusively using Canadian steel. The criticism occurred amid broader trade tensions between the United States and Canada, including the imposition of U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, which prompted retaliatory Canadian tariffs and strained bilateral economic relations. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the Truth Social post by clarifying that steel from both countries was used during construction and that the state of Michigan shares ownership and operation of the bridge with the Canadian government.

The disagreement was resolved in July when Canada agreed to pay half of the bridge’s revenues during the first 15 years of its operation to a U.S. economic development fund. The bridge was officially inaugurated in Windsor on July 24, 2026. Canada held the ceremony without U.S. officials after a planned joint event was cancelled following Pres. Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on Canadian goods. The bridge opened to passenger and commercial traffic on July 27.