Gordie Howe International Bridge Opens to Traffic Across Detroit River

Traffic started flowing on Monday across the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a new six-lane crossing over the Detroit River that will augment the flow of trade, jobs and tourism between the United States and Canada. The bridge, named after Canadian hockey legend Gordie Howe, was officially opened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Windsor, Ontario last week.

The 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) span rises 151 feet (46 metres) above the river and will accommodate commercial trucks, as well as pedestrians and cyclists with proper identification, who will be allowed to cross free of charge in the coming weeks. The project, which began construction in 2018, cost an estimated $6.4 billion, funded by Canada, with a revenue-sharing agreement that will allocate a portion of tolls to the U.S. government for 15 years.

More than 70 percent of Canada’s exports travel to the United States, and Detroit is the busiest U.S.–Canada border port for truck traffic, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The new bridge is expected to offer a faster, less costly alternative to the privately-owned Ambassador Bridge, which has been the sole large-truck crossing at Detroit for nearly a century.

"We changed the terms," President Donald Trump wrote on social media while the Ontario ceremony was underway, referring to the toll-revenue agreement.

Michigan will receive a share of the toll revenue after Canada recoups its construction costs, a timeline that could extend for several decades.