DETROIT — After a nearly weeklong blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings in the world is beginning to reopen — but not without creating a massive bottleneck on trade between the United States and Canada.
More than 7,000 trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge each day. According to the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, one in every seven jobs in West Michigan are directly tied to trade with Canada and the goods that cross the bridge daily. In just a week of shutdown, Ford and GM had to limit shifts at certain plants, some closing for days at a time.
"When you’re talking about one of the most important trade crossings in the entire world," said Josh Lunger with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. "Having a very old bridge be your sole mechanism for your trade of products, we need to have something better in place."
As it turns out, a contingency is under construction a few miles down the road from the Ambassador Bridge. Set to open in by the end of 2024, the Gordie Howe International Bridge will serve as another option to cross from Detroit to Windsor.
"Building this bridge gives redundancy," said Bryce Phillips, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. "It’s vital to the Canadian economy, and the especially the economy of the northern states."
When it's finished, the bridge will be 1.5 miles, or 2.5 kilometers long and 6 lanes wide with a multipurpose lane for walking or biking. The interchange will charge tolls collected on the Canadian side. Phillips says the bridge is a 30-year project as of now, but he believes the lifespan will last at least 120.
"[The Canadian government wasn't] looking at it as something they would make a profit on through tolling," Phillips said, "they're looking at it from the perspective of growing the economy and bringing wealth to the nation."
Held up by towers on both the American and Canadian sides, Phillips says they are curved to mimic the curvature of a hockey stick mid-slapshot, an homage to the bridge's namesake.
On the Detroit side, there will be 1.8 miles of interchange ramps built connecting the bridge to I-75. In addition, there will be 4 road bridges built, along with 5 pedestrian bridges crossing over the interchange.
Phillips says at the peak of construction, 2,500 new jobs will be created, developing employment opportunities in both the United States and Canada.
RELATED VIDEO:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.