America’s Longest Cable-Stayed Bridge To Link US With Canada

A bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada will open to the public just as a trade war develops between the two countries.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which spans the Detroit River from Michigan to Ontario, will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in the country when it opens in late 2025, just a few months after relations between Canada and the U.S. took a turn for the worse in the wake of President Donald Trump‘s trade policy.

Newsweek contacted the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority for more information on the project via email.

Why It Matters

The Gordie Howe bridge was first pitched by Canadian lawmakers in 2009, with approval from Michigan’s leadership and the Obama administration coming in 2013. Construction began in 2018, and the project was billed as mutually beneficial for Canadians and Americans, with contractors on both sides of the river used on the project.

Image of the Gordie Howe International Bridge over the Detroit River, from the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

WDBA

What To Know

But the bridge will finish construction under a different political climate. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority estimates that the structure will be fully operational around October or November as the first year of Trump’s second administration draws to a close.

The bridge was funded entirely by the Canadian government, with authorities planning for the $6.4 billion price tag to be funded by the crossing toll, which is expected to raise more than $70 million a year. However, people crossing from Michigan will not pay a toll; only those crossing from Canada will.

It is a cable-stayed bridge, meaning the supporting cables are connected directly to the bridge’s towers rather than the larger overhead cables seen on conventional suspension bridges.

Since the escalation of tariffs on Canada, the country’s leadership and public have taken a more critical stance on U.S. relations, with newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney, who campaigned hard on standing up to Trump, declaring that the old relationship with the U.S. was “over.”

As a result, there are fears that crossings on the bridge, which is meant to be funded by tolls, may be lower than expected.

Original estimates said that roughly 6,000 people would cross the bridge each day, but since the introduction of Trump’s tariffs, border crossings in the region have declined drastically, with the other crossings in Windsor seeing 67,000 fewer vehicles in March than the same time last year.

What People Are Saying

Charl van Niekerk, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, in a statement: “The Gordie Howe International Bridge connects more than two countries. It is also a symbol of an enduring friendship and shared environment for Windsor-Detroit, Ontario-Michigan and Canada-US.”

Heather Grondin, chief relations officer for the authority, told the Detroit News in April: “I don’t know if that’s going to be October or November, it really depends on construction season, and we need to ensure that all our systems, processes are working before we open.”