Washington ― The Gordie Howe International Bridge will open to traffic June 15, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans, following eight years of construction and an international standoff that has strained U.S.-Canadian trade and political relations.
The long-awaited opening of the $4.7 billion, six-lane span is expected to follow a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for Friday, hosting dignitaries from both sides of the border, three sources briefed on the plans told The Detroit News. The sources spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Invitations to the ribbon-cutting went out Monday after a conversation between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Susie Wiles, who is chief of staff to President Donald Trump, according to two of the sources who spoke to The News.
The developments signaled that the White House might be moving forward on a deal with Canada to greenlight the opening of new border crossing to Ontario that’s been decades in the making. The News first reported on Monday morning plans for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
In recent days, testing of all systems at the bridge, customs plazas and ramps connecting to Michigan and Ontario freeways was wrapping up, officials had said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testified last week that Customs & Border Protection staff are “good to go” to facilitate trade and travel across the newly built, 1.5-mile span from Detroit to Windsor.
“We have the personnel dedicated, ready to move,” Mullin told the Senate Appropriations Committee a week ago.
“We’re prepared, we’re staffed, ready to go. … There’s still negotiations between Canada and the United States that’s not within DHS that has to be resolved. But we’re as far as we can go without the sign off from the bridge and the final agreement between the two countries.”
A spokeswoman for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which has overseen bridge construction, said last week that the span is “progressing well towards a spring opening.”
“The exact opening date depends on the completion of the ongoing quality reviews and testing and commissioning activities,” WDBA spokeswoman Tara Carson told The Detroit News by email.
Carson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa also didn’t immediately respond to questions. Bobby Leddy, a spokesman for Whitmer, said he had nothing to share.
The News first reported May 30 that the new $4.7 billion bridge, customs plazas and ramps connecting to Michigan and Ontario could be days away from completion.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Holly acknowledged the impending bridge ceremony during an appearance at the Detroit Economic Club on Monday afternoon.
“If you want to understand how to appeal to people across the aisle and actually get practical solutions done, come and see us,” Slotkin said in reference to Michigan as a bipartisan political model for the rest of the country.
“And I will say, there’s no better day to be having that conversation and proving that point than (today), when it was leaked that we’re doing, finally, the ribbon-cutting on the Gordie Howe Bridge coming up this week.”
Just a month ago, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told The Detroit News that the Trump administration has yet to reach an agreement with the Canadian government regarding the opening of the Detroit River span.
“At the end of the day, the president will have to sign off on it,” Hoekstra said of an eventual agreement. “There’s a lot of issues right now between the U.S. and Canada. The bridge is one more.”
Trump’s demands set off an international standoff
Trump had demanded concessions from Canada in trade talks or a share of future toll revenue, as a condition for opening the 1.5-mile, six-lane span. No approvals for the bridge to open to traffic would be granted by the Federal Highway Administration without the blessing of the Trump White House, sources told The News last month.
The opening of the Gordie Howe span would be a blow to the competing, privately owned Ambassador Bridge, whose owners have lobbied the Trump administration as part of their fight against the new, publicly owned bridge.
Ambassador owner Matthew Moroun met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this year, according to the New York Times, after donating $1 million in January to a political action committee that supports Trump. The Detroit International Bridge Co. also spent at least $250,000 lobbying the Trump administration in the second half of last year after spending $2.8 million on lobbying efforts during Trump’s first term.
Tolls to cross the not-yet-open Gordie Howe International Bridge will be less than half the fees at the Ambassador Bridge for both passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, setting in motion a forthcoming toll war between the two Detroit River crossings.
Trump previously voiced support for the bridge, including a joint statement in 2017 with then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The duo at the time said they looked forward to the “expeditious completion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will serve as a vital economic link between our two countries.”
Evan Solomon, the Canadian federal minister for AI and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, told the CBC last month that there were “complicated” negotiations going on between the U.S. and Canada involving trade, tariffs and the opening of the Gordie Howe span. Solomon said he hoped the bridge would open this spring.
“There’s a lot of factors. The bridge is one factor. Trade. There’s a lot of industries that are being impacted,” Solomon said. “But we are seized with making sure that we get the best deal possible with the United States, and that will include, we hope, the bridge.”
Part of the holdup, according to Hoekstra, had been the fact that many of the conditions under which a 2012 agreement between Michigan and Canada hadn’t materialized, with the $4.7 billion project coming in over budget, while border traffic is down.
Under the original deal, Michigan and Canada would share equal ownership of the bridge, but Michigan won’t benefit from the toll revenue until Canada pays off the debt it incurred constructing the six-lane span, customs plazas and connections to Interstate 75 in Detroit and Ontario’s 401 Highway.
But with a debt of roughly $6.4 billion in Canadian dollars and what Hoekstra has estimated to be an about 4.8% interest rate, there are questions about Canada’s ability to ever recoup its costs and, by extension, Michigan’s eventual share of revenue, Hoekstra said this spring.
The ongoing talks between the U.S. and Canada follow Trump’s February threat to block the bridge’s opening amid trade disputes and complaints about the United States’ share of bridge ownership.
He aired a number of complaints about Canada, including its refusal to stock some U.S. alcoholic beverages on Canadian shelves, its tariffs on dairy products and its trade talks with China.
“This is just another example of President Trump putting America’s interests first, and so he made that very clear in his call with Prime Minister Carney earlier today,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said after Trump’s threat in February.
Slotkin warns of strain on U.S.-Canada relations
Slotkin on Monday lamented the regional impact on Michigan of the worsening U.S.-Canada relations since Trump returned to office.
“I think no one feels the pain of the pissing match between the United States and Canada more than Michigan. It makes us uncomfortable because we have worked together as cousins for our entire lives,” Slotkin said.
The Democratic junior senator complained about the Republican president taking “real hits against the Canadians,” saying she had “a real problem with it.”
“They’re just still tweeting a couple of weeks ago, you know, Canada should be the 51st state. It’s offensive, and it creates tension in relationships that shouldn’t have tension,” Slotkin said.
“We are cousins. We are always going to be cousins. And we should work to get to a place where we are back to that only positive relationship.”
mburke@detroitnews.com
cmauger@detroitnews.com
gschwab@detroitnews.com
Staff Writers Beth LeBlanc and Kara Berg and Politics Editor Chad Livengood contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Date set for opening of Gordie Howe International Bridge to traffic
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, Craig Mauger and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Melissa Nann Burke, Craig Mauger and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
