Biggest bridge to ever connect Canada and US nears completion
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
After nearly six years of construction, the biggest bridge to ever connect Canada and the US is now just 11 metres away from completion.
Catch-up: The 2.5-kilometre-long bridge will connect Windsor and Detroit, adding capacity to what is North America’s busiest border crossing. And because it’s a Canadian bridge, it’s named after hockey legend Gordie Howe and resembles a hockey stick taking a slap shot.
- Right now, the routes that connect the cities are the Ambassador Bridge, a four-lane crossing completed in 1929, and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, completed in 1930.
- Delays have brought the cost of the project up to $6.4 billion , a bill that Ottawa is picking up on its own.
Why it matters: Every day, $3.6 billion worth of trade passes between Canada and the US. Nearly 20% of that travels across the traffic-prone Ambassador Bridge. The new bridge will help alleviate costly delays, saving truck drivers a combined 850,000 hours per year.
What’s next: The two sides of the bridge will meet in the middle of the Detroit River by the end of the month, but if you’re hoping to skip the border traffic on a summer trip down south, you’re out of luck — the bridge won’t be fully operational for another year.
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Astonishing photos add to hype over record-breaking $6.4B Ontario-US border bridge
Wow that is quite a bridge.
I got to drive over the old bridge once. It's an impressive ride.
I couldn't count the many times I have, but I never used the tunnel.
Stunning, and a good thing that there are no center supports into the water, we don't want another Baltimore.
A bridge NOT too far - aptly named, due to the many times Gordie (no need to add his family name - EVERY Canadian knew who "Gordie" was) was Canada's hockey hero even though he played for Detroit (hero at least until Gretzky took over that mantle) drove over the Ambassador bridge. A story I recall reading was one time he was on his way to Toronto to play, and the Canadian customs/immigration officer would ask him "Playing tonight, Gordie?" and of course Gordie would say "yep", and be waved on. No Canadian customs/immigration officer EVER made him open the trunk, or inspect his car - to Canadians, he was their hero who would NEVER do anything wrong.
Crossed the International and Ambassador bridges many times over the years but I’ll never use the new one unless I have no other choice.
No desire to go back there. None.
And I feel the same way about ever stepping foot in the USA again, notwithstanding the fact that I have never seen my grandchildren except in pictures/videos. However, with Canada becoming more like the USA as it has been doing during the years that I've not been there, I'm beginning to feel the same way about Canada as you do, even though my daughter lives in Toronto, and I still have some friends still kicking living there.
Only one word comes to mind, IMPRESSIVE! Anything else would probably be superfluous.