The new $6.4-billion Gordie Howe International Bridge is finally expected to open today.
After 25-years of planning and eight-years of construction, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority says the span is opening as early as 12 p.m.
The new international crossing will create a direct, highway-to-highway connection between Highway 401 in Windsor and I-75 in Detroit.
At a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, the federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson said the new span will save commercial trucking companies 850,000 hours a year, which adds up to billions of dollars of economic savings and secures thousands of jobs on both sides of border.
Stephen Laskowski, the President and CEO Canadian Trucking Alliance, says it’s an incredible piece of infrastructure and will send a great signal to the logistics and supply chain. “Once the trucks cross we have certainty and we know now we have an incredible piece of infrastructure that’s going to bring time and cost savings to our industry and that is something that we can’t wait to see happen,” he said.
Laskowski says the new span sends a strong message to the investment community.
“The north-south trade route is open for business. It has more cost certainty going across the border, more time certainty so there’s nothing but good news out of this not just for the short term but the long term of attracting investment. More investment, more freight to move, the better the news for the trucking industry.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said $1-billion in trade a day crosses between Michigan and Ontario.
The new 2.5 kilometre bridge features six lanes - three Canadian-bound and three U.S.-bound.
400 commercial vehicles are expected to cross the bridge every hour.
Tolls for the bridge will be less than half of what the Ambassador Bridge charges for commercial trucks and over a dollar cheaper for passenger vehicles.