Gordie Howe Bridge Essentially Complete, Argument About It Also Essentially Complete
After nearly a decade of construction, the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit is now described as 'essentially complete,' a phrase engineers use when there is nothing left to build but plenty left to fight about.
The span itself, a $6.4-billion cable-stayed marvel named after a man who once played hockey with a separated shoulder, will carry trucks across the Detroit River sometime this fall. What it will not carry, apparently, is consensus. Officials on both sides remain locked in disputes over tolls, customs staffing, and which jurisdiction gets to claim credit when the ribbon is finally cut by whoever happens to be in office that week.
One Canadian source, speaking on background because she was tired, noted that the bridge was first proposed in 2004, approved in 2012, and is being completed during a U.S. administration that views the entire concept of a friendly northern neighbour as a negotiating posture. A Michigan trucker interviewed at the existing Ambassador Bridge said he was excited about the new crossing because it would let him sit in a different traffic jam for a change.
The bridge is expected to handle 8,000 trucks a day, every single one of which will be asked at the booth whether it is carrying any firearms, fresh fruit, or unresolved tariff grievances. Gordie Howe himself, who scored goals into his fifties, would likely have finished the paperwork faster.