Gordie Howe Bridge completion date likely in 2025, later than initial estimates: officials

Officials behind Gordie Howe International Bridge project say that traffic may not flow over the crossing until sometime in 2025, despite a previous completion target of by the end of 2024.

"The schedule currently shows 2024," Michael Hatchell, the CEO for Bridging North America — the private-sector consortium building the bridge — said at a media event on Wednesday.

"We don't have a final date we've agreed to yet with the [Detroit-Windsor Bridge Authority], it's something we're working with them on."

"I would expect it to be in 2025, for sure." 

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The $5.6-billion bridge between between Windsor and Detroit will be the largest cable-stayed bridge in North America.

Hatchell said the bumped-up date has to do with the impacts COVID-19 had on the project, but he would not speculate on when in 2025 the completion might take place.

"We still deal with it and still have to deal with it, but we've got processes in place to work with it as we're going forward," he said.

When asked earlier this year about an S&P Global report that suggested the bridge project may be delayed, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (DWBA) — the Crown corporation overseeing the project — said that it was still working toward the goal of having first traffic cross the bridge at the end of 2024, however, issues could come up that would impact the schedule. 

Hatchell said they have dealt with supply chain issues and moved on.

Progress

Hatchell said the legs of the bridge are done and they have built about 152 metres of the final spire, which will be nearly 220 metres high.

The deck coming back toward the land on the Canadian side of the project is under construction and Hatchell said that they will begin on the U.S. side of deck construction next year.

At that time, construction of the cables coming down to the deck will also begin.

Boost in community benefits

There will be a greater share of community benefits flowing out of the Gordie Howe Bridge Project next year, officials said.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge team said that the annual funding envelope for projects has increased to $200,000 per year, split evenly between Windsor and Detroit, for the remaining two years of the Community Benefits Plan.

Initially, non-profit or charitable organizations located in or serving Sandwich/West Windsor and Delray/Southwest Detroit communities could access up to $50,000 but now they are able to access up to $100,000.

"It is our hope that this additional funding will continue to inspire creativity among community organizations to develop meaningful programs and events that work to drive change and provide positive outcomes for local residents and families," said Heather Grondin of the DWBA.

Irene Moore Davis, president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, said the funding has allowed her organization to create three short documentaries that celebrate the history of the Underground Railroad as it pertains to the area.

"We're so thrilled that we're able to do that," she said. "This bridge project really touches on two areas in Canada and U.S. that were so significant to the history of the Underground Railroad, where literally tens of thousands of freedom seekers crossed." 

Applications for between $1,000 and $25,000 can be made until Jan. 25, 2023.

According to bridge officials, $300,000 has been invested in 26 different projects in the first three years of the bridge project.

Nadja Pelkey, the associate curator of projects and partnerships at Art Windsor-Essex, said that they've previously done projects, including an exhibition with artists who did the art on the spires of the bridge, and are currently working on two other projects they have yet to announce. 

"The artwork that the bridge incorporates will be there for generations, so we're excited to find ways to partner with them on sort of telling the story on how art and infrastructure connect," she said.