New Bridge Connecting Detroit to Canada Won’t Open Until Fall 2025

New Bridge Connecting Detroit to Canada Won’t Open Until Fall 2025
The freighter Manitowoc makes its way down the Detroit River past continuing construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Canadian span, in Detroit on Dec. 29, 2023. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP)
The Associated Press
1/4/2024
Updated:
1/4/2024

DETROIT—A second bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Canada, over the Detroit River won’t open for travel until fall 2025, months later than anticipated, officials said Thursday.

Officials cited construction disruptions in the United States and Canada related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, named for the Canadian hockey legend who led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cups, began in 2018 and was last scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The target now is September 2025, though the bridge deck should be finished this year.

“Our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted completion date,” said Charl van Niekerk, chief executive of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

The project carries a price tag of CA$6.4 billion ($4.79 billion), up from CA$5.7 billion ($4.27 billion).

The Gordie Howe bridge will join the privately owned Ambassador Bridge as the second span connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

The Ambassador Bridge is considered the busiest U.S.–Canadian border crossing, carrying 25 percent of all trade between the two countries. It plays an especially important role in auto manufacturing.