Detroit — Hikers and bikers got their turn Wednesday to cross the Gordie Howe International Bridge as a multi-use path opened at 8 a.m. Wednesday, giving those on foot and bicycle a new way to cross the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor.
The grand opening of the path comes a week after the July 27 debut of the $4.54 billion, 1.5-mile span, ending eight years of construction and weeks of political tension that disrupted opening festivities.
A large crowd lined up ahead of the scheduled opening, aiming to be among the first users of the new path on the bridge linking the United States and Canada. Right at 8 a.m. as scheduled, the first walkers and bicyclists began moving on the path from Detroit toward Windsor.
31-year-old Detroiter Marcel Murray was first in line on the Detroit side of the bridge, having arrived at 4:30 a.m. Murray, clad in a red U.S. T-shirt with a Miles Morales Spiderman plushie attached to his back, planned to run a less than 6-minute mile across the bridge.
“It’s a very exciting moment for a lot of people,” Murray said. “It’s empowering for all of us, but especially people of color. I identify as African American, and today I will be first man of color ever to run across the Gordie Howe International Bridge. It’s a historic moment for my community here today.”
In addition to representing his community, Murray also planned to run for his 7-year-old son.
“The plush toy on my back is actually my son’s,” Murray said. “I just wanted to motivate myself and inspire myself along the run. I want him to know anything is possible with dedication. I want to motivate him to do something quite similar in the future.”
70-year-old Clifton Sharpe lined up second, arriving an hour after Murray at 5:30 a.m. in an attempt to carry on the family legacy.
“My great-grandfather was one of the first African Americans to walk across the Ambassadors Bridge,” Sharpe said. “That’s why I figured I would come here and walk across the Gordie Howe Bridge to keep the tradition. He walked across from the Canada side and I will be walking across from the U.S. side.”
Rick Williams, celebrating his 37th wedding anniversary with his wife, Debra, from Pennsylvania, was the first biker in line. Williams was in town visiting family and decided he had to come for the historic event.
“I had my bike anyways, I go nowhere without it,” Williams said.
Kelli Cook, 55, of Wyandotte, said she decided to ride across the bridge on the new path in honor of her late father, an ironworker who did repair work on the Ambassador Bridge, and her uncle, who worked on construction of the Mackinac Bridge.
“My dad would have come out of retirement to help build this bridge,” Cook said.
Daniel Oriet, 39, of Windsor was the third crosser from the Canadian side.
“It was an amazing experience being able to do it on day one,” he said. “It was quite a bit of an incline. I haven’t ridden my bike kind of consistently in a couple years, so it was more of a challenge than maybe what it used to have been. It was pretty tough at first. But the adrenaline is going, and you kind of just power through it.”
The new path didn’t just attract two-wheeled cyclists. James Abbott, 25, of Waterford Township, claimed the distinction of being the first rider to cross on the new path on one wheel.
“There was another unicyclist about 40 people behind me in line on the U.S. (side), and he was a little heartbroken that he wasn’t the first,” Abbott said. “But we each got a picture actually with each other on the bridge. I was screaming so loud. I think people down on the river could even hear me.”
atisch@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Walkers, bikers open multi-use path on the Gordie Howe International Bridge
Reporting by Alyssa Tisch, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alyssa Tisch, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
