Gordie Howe International Bridge team releases new completion date

After years of hinting at delays, the Gordie Howe International Bridge project team announced Thursday a new completion date and said it expects to see cars crossing the bridge in 20 months.

The new Detroit-Windsor span originally was scheduled to be opened by the end of 2024 after construction was completed in November 2024. Now the project team said it expects the bridge to be completed in September 2025 with cars crossing it a little later that same fall.

The international partnership, including the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and Bridging North America, said 2023 was the busiest year of construction since the project launched in March 2020.

The $4.15 billion project experienced unprecedented disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed construction and increased the cost of the bridge by about $750 million, officials said.

"The disruptions were even more prevalent for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project given the differing applicable restrictions in the U.S. and Canada, combined with the ramping up of construction activities in early 2020," the partnership stated in a press release.

“After a three-year pandemic and considering the size and complexity of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted completion date and that we could agree on a reasonable adjustment to the contract value," said Charl van Niekerk, CEO of Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

"With safety as our top priority, we will continue to work together to deliver this much needed infrastructure to the thousands of eager travelers ready to cross North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge.”

The public-private partnership contracts between Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and Bridging North America have been amended to include a new schedule, measures to ensure the completion by 2025 and have updated the contract value to $4.9 billion.

Officials said they recognize the extended construction period affects several communities including Delray in southwest Detroit and Sandwich in west Windsor, so they have budgeted $2.3 million in a one-year extension contract with the Gordie Howe International Bridge Community Benefits Plan. It will be divided equally between Canada and the U.S. and spent over the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Five southwest Detroit organizations are receiving community benefits as part of the international project. Officials said they will provide updates in the coming year.

“We appreciate the ongoing commitment of our partners at WDBA and BNA to keeping this vital project on track during an unprecedented worldwide pandemic that presented many obstacles on both sides of the border," Michigan Department of Transportation Director Bradley Wieferich said in a statement.

"We are especially pleased that along with a revised timeline comes a pledge for further community benefits in Southwest Detroit and BNA’s pledge to add cycling lanes to streets on the Detroit side. We saw a great deal of work completed in 2023 and look forward to opening this great bridge in 2025."

Road construction work on I-75 related to the bridge project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2024, according to MDOT's website.

In 2022 and 2023, the project team made progress on bridge and road deck construction, stay cable installation and port of entry facilities which helped drive the overall construction schedule, according to officials.

This year, the public can expect to see the bridge deck connect over the Detroit River and the last of the 216 stay cables installed, as well as the completion of the point of entry agency buildings and the concrete for the Interstate 75 ramps, officials said.

Following construction completion, the project team will finalize operating processes and testing to fully prepare the facilities for traffic crossing the border starting in fall 2025.

srahal@detroitnews.com