The CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI) and Invest WindsorEssex is calling the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge a game changer.
Gordon Orr attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, alongside many other local, provincial, and federal dignitaries.
The bridge is expected to open by noon on Monday, and Orr says once that happens, trade, commerce, and tourism will see a boost in Windsor-Essex.
The new international crossing between Windsor and Detroit is expected to ease congestion at the Ambassador Bridge, while also improving the flow of cross-border trade between Canada and the United States.
The new crossing will carry $300-billion a year in trade between Canada and the U.S., with 400 commercial vehicles expected to cross the bridge every hour.
Orr says this is a big moment for the region.
“It’s going to mean the movement of goods, commerce, tourists, business, trade. It really is going to help expedite trade back and forth between our two great countries, and it’s really going to help add that extra element of reliability. And when you’ve got reliability in the marketplace, that’s what certainly folks are looking for.”
He says they’re hoping tourism will increase even more once the multi-use path opens in a couple of weeks.
“This has been decades in the making, and the fact that it’s planned to be open on Monday, and then on August 5th that multi-use path is going to be another game changer for cycle tourists and pedestrians to cross the bridge free of charge. We’re very, very excited.”
Orr says this bridge will be a picture worth a thousand words.
“It’s going to be an iconic sort of piece, so it’s a beautiful visual, and how you help sell a destination is beautiful visual essays and this bridge tells a story and that story is going to resonate with tourists and it’s going to resonate certainly with commerce and trade and businesses. And it’s very exciting that it’s going to be open and it’s going to be a picture worth a thousand words.”
The Canadian-only ceremony for the bridge comes after the federal government cancelled a joint event with the United States in light of Trump’s latest tariff threats.
Construction on the $6.4-billion bridge has been underway since 2018.
The bridge features six lanes, 16 toll lanes, and 60 Canada and U.S. inspection lanes.