Record-breaking $6.4B Ontario-U.S. border bridge is racing toward 2025 opening

Over six years since shovels first hit the ground for the new $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, the enormous new cross-border structure is racing towards a projected opening next fall.

The Canada-U.S. border bridge linking Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, Michigan, began construction on October 5, 2018, and after a lengthy construction period that now lags ten months behind schedule, the finish line is finally within sight.

The project was thrust into the international spotlight this past June when U.S. and Canadian crews joined the two halves of the gargantuan engineering project to form one unified bridge deck.

That June 14, 2024 milestone officially moved the Gordie Howe International Bridge into the top spot on the list of the continent’s longest cable-stayed bridge spans, overtaking B.C.’s Port Mann Bridge as the longest of its kind in North America.

Though the two bridge halves’ connection marks the climactic peak in the project’s construction, there is still plenty of work left to accomplish before it is fit for the first official vehicle crossings next year.

In addition to a long list of technical and engineering tasks that might be lost on the casual observer, perhaps the most obvious remaining work for the bridge is the paving of the actual roadway cars and trucks will use to transit the border.

Paving of said roadway recently began, and the bridge team has released a brief video update combining drone and bridge-level footage to keep the public in the loop on construction progress.

Crews are paving six lanes for traffic and two shoulder lanes. The remaining space on the 37.5-metre-wide bridge will be occupied by a 3.6-metre-wide multi-use trail spanning the full 2.5-kilometre length of the crossing.

Use of this cross-border pedestrian and cycling path will be toll-free, and is set to connect to local trails on both the Canadian and U.S. sides of the border.

Another drone operator recently flew quite close to the bridge to document views of the paving work. However, the project website specifies that stringent regulations are in place for unmanned aerial vehicles in and around the project site, and failure to follow them could land you a severe fine or even jail time.

The paving update is just the latest in a series of project milestones and announcements to occur in 2024, most notably the much-anticipated meeting of the two bridge halves this past June.

Most recently, new details were revealed last month about a stunning light display that will adorn the bridge. Celebrated artist and novelist Douglas Coupland is leading the design of this large-scale light installation that will consist of approximately 5,000 LED lights spanning the crossing.

But despite all of the engineering achievements, highly-publicized milestones, and general excitement about this new crossing on both sides of the border, the new bridge is expected to open at least ten months behind schedule.

The bridge is currently planned to open to cross-border traffic in September 2025.

Once complete, it will fill in a longstanding gap in a major international trucking corridor by linking Ontario’s Highway 401 with Interstate 75 in Michigan.