Here's What The New Windsor-Detroit Bridge Will Look Like

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority today released the first image of what the new bridge linking the two cities will look like when it is completed.

Dubbed the Gordie Howe International Bridge after the late Detroit Red Wings hockey player, the span will replace the aging Ambassador Bridge, which first opened to traffic nearly 88 years ago.

A consortium of Canadian and American companies called Bridging North America will build the bridge on behalf of the bridge authority, which is a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Canadian government.

The new bridge will be the longest cable-stayed span in North America, stretching 853 meters and boasting towers whose height will rival the 73-storey Renaissance Centre in nearby downtown Detroit.

When completed, says the Windsor Star, the bridge will carry six lanes of motorized vehicle traffic plus lanes for bikes and pedestrians.

Still, the project has not actually been finalized yet. That should happen in the fall when a contract is signed and the total projected cost of the bridge has been calculated; the Windsor Star reports the total could tally anywhere between $2.1 billion to $4.5 billion. Construction is also set to begin this fall.

The effort to bring the Gordie Howe International Bridge to fruition has not been without controversy. The wealthy Detroit family that owns the Ambassador bridge is trying to block the new bridge, presumably because they stand to lose a lot of money in toll revenue.

But the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority is well into the work of acquiring the necessary lands on which the toll plazas will be built at each end.