The Gordie Howe International Bridge is officially open.
The $6.4 billion span opened to traffic late Monday morning.
It took eight years to build the new international crossing between Ontario and Michigan.
The new bridge offers a direct, highway-to-highway connection between Highway 401 and I-75.
It’s a 2.5 kilometre bridge featuring six lanes, 16 toll lanes, and 60 inspection lanes between Canada and the U.S.
Heather Grondin is the chief relations officer for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.
She has spent several years working on the project and says she’s excited for travellers to experience the new bridge for the first time.
Grondin says it’s ‘so exciting’ to be at this point of the project.
“It does give us the opportunity to reflect on those high points that we’ve had over the years, and this is another major chapter in this project, in this bridge, and now we get to move into operations, which is what we’ve been working toward this whole time,” says Grondin.
She says the bridge is new transportation infrastructure for motorists.
“We are asking people to take time to be aware of signage,” she says. “Leave the sightseeing to the passenger in the vehicle; maybe on the way back they can switch and the driver could become the passenger.”
Grondin says it’s a stunning bridge.
“There’s going to be some getting used to, and so we’re just going to ask people to be safe as they’re crossing, follow the signage and follow the directions of the border agents who are working on both sides of the border,” says Grondin.
The bridge is named after Gordie Howe, a Canadian hockey player who played 26 seasons in the NHL, most of that time with the Detroit Red Wings, and was known as “Mr. Hockey”.
Canadian officials held a ‘Canada-only ribbon-cutting ceremony’ last Friday, where members of the Howe family attended, along with local, provincial, and federal dignitaries.
A joint celebration with the United States was cancelled by the federal government after U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.