It is welcome news that another milestone has been reached with the new Gordie Howe International Bridge that will span the Detroit River and will become the busiest Canada-US border crossing.

The design of the bridge was revealed last month. It is a soaring, elegant design that will provide a bold new link between Ontario and Michigan.

The project has been driven by Canada, and bridge construction is scheduled to start this fall. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority is a public-private partnership and a not-for-profit Crown Corporation.

The new six-lane, cable-stayed international bridge will provide direct connectivity to existing highway networks in Windsor and Detroit.

Along with modern border processing infrastructure and the capacity to move goods and travelers efficiently through the corridor, it will encourage new investment between Canada and the United States.

• The Windsor-Detroit Gateway is the busiest Canada-United States commercial land border crossing and is vital to the economies of Ontario, Michigan, Canada and the United States, with some 7,000 trucks crossing each day. About 2.5 million trucks cross the Windsor-Detroit border each year. In 2017 this represented over US$106.5 billion in bilateral trade (CAD$138 billion).
   
• The Gordie Howe International Bridge project includes the construction of: A six-lane, cable-stayed design bridge of 850m (0.53 miles) and a total length of approximately 2.5 km (1.5 miles), Canadian and United States Ports of Entry including approach bridges, customs plazas and a tolling station on the Canadian side; and, a Michigan interchange connecting Interstate 75 to the United States Port of Entry.
   
• Once constructed, Canada's Port of Entry will be the largest Canadian port on the Canada-United States border and the United States Port of Entry will be one of the largest in North America.
   
• Canada and the United States share the world's longest secure border, over which approximately 400,000 people, and goods and services worth CAD$2.5 billion, cross daily.

Cost estimates are still uncertain, but very round estimates have had the project at a total of $5 billion and the bridge costing roughly $2 billion. There will be cost recovery from future tolls from the trucks and cars that will traverse the elegant span.

Better transportation links between the 401 highwayin Canada and the I-75 in the United States will help speed travel time for truckers and for tourists.
 

Credit: Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority