Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority Advances $6.4 Billion Gordie Howe Bridge Toward Landmark Opening Connecting Detroit to Canada

Historic Deck Connection Unites Detroit and Windsor Across the River

DETROIT, Michigan — In a momentous engineering milestone for North American transportation, international supply chains, and border infrastructure, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) and private-sector partner Bridging North America (BNA) have reached final structural completion and deck connection across the landmark $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge. Soaring high above the bustling Detroit River, the cable-stayed megaproject physically joins the city of Detroit in Michigan with Windsor, Ontario, marking the first new border crossing constructed along this premier trade gateway in nearly a century.

Measuring 853 metres (0.53 miles) in continuous main span, the landmark bridge ranks as the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America and the tenth longest worldwide. Designed by lead bridge architect Erik Behrens of AECOM, the crossing is suspended by 216 massive stay cables anchored to two monumental 220-metre-tall (722-foot) A-shaped reinforced concrete towers, engineered to provide unobstructed navigation for Great Lakes freighters while withstanding extreme regional meteorological forces.

167-Acre U.S. Port of Entry and Direct Interstate 75 Interchange in Southwest Detroit

On the Michigan shoreline in Southwest Detroit's historic Delray neighborhood, civil engineering crews are accelerating technical installations across the sprawling 167-acre U.S. Port of Entry (POE)—one of the largest land border crossing inspection ports ever developed in the United States. The complex incorporates 36 dedicated primary passenger vehicle inspection booths, 36 commercial freight cargo processing lanes, state-of-the-art non-intrusive radiological and imaging inspection systems, commercial vehicle enforcement facilities, and a dedicated outbound inspection plaza.

To guarantee frictionless regional mobility and eliminate heavy commercial truck congestion from residential Delray neighborhood streets, the project delivers direct grade-separated ramp connections linking the port of entry directly to Interstate 75 (I-75). The scope entails four brand-new highway bridges over I-75, three reconstructed vehicular overpasses, four pedestrian bridges, and approximately three miles of newly realigned highway pavement engineered to funnel high-volume international freight smoothly into the Midwest transport grid.

Active Transportation, Multimodal Trails, and Carbon Mitigation Initiatives

A defining innovation of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is its commitment to green, active mobility. The bridge features a dedicated, 3.6-metre-wide (11.8-foot) multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path separated from motor vehicle traffic by continuous concrete crash barriers. Toll-free for pedestrians and cyclists, the active travel path connects directly into Detroit’s expanding Joe Louis Greenway and Iron Belle Trail networks on the U.S. side, linking seamlessly to the Trans Canada Trail in Windsor to establish an unprecedented international active travel link.

Beyond active travel, the crossing incorporates high-efficiency dynamic LED architectural and roadway lighting engineered with dark-sky preservation shielding to protect migratory bird pathways along the Detroit River wildlife corridor. Both bridge decks and customs facilities are fitted with advanced stormwater filtration cisterns that treat all runoff before it enters municipal drainage systems, significantly protecting the aquatic habitat of the Detroit River basin.

Securing North America's Busiest Commercial Artery and Regional Job Growth

Federal, state, and provincial leadership underscored that the Gordie Howe International Bridge provides essential redundancy and economic security for the busiest commercial land border corridor in North America. The Detroit-Windsor trade gateway handles approximately 25 percent of all two-way bilateral trade between the United States and Canada, moving over $100 billion in manufactured automobiles, agricultural goods, and technological supplies annually across the Ambassador Bridge and rail tunnel.

Throughout construction, the megaproject has supported more than 12,000 regional jobs, engaging hundreds of local Michigan subcontractors and investing over $20 million through its Neighborhood Infrastructure Strategy into Southwest Detroit community enhancements, green spaces, and workforce development. The bridge stands as a generational monument to international cooperation and modern civil engineering engineered to power bilateral prosperity for well over a century.