US$4.7 billion US-Canada bridge nears opening despite earlier Trump threat
Trump demanded a share of Canada’s future toll revenue from the Michigan-Ontario Gordie Howe International Bridge, set to open on June 15
A new US$4.7 billion bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario is on track to open in the coming weeks despite a threat made in February by US President Donald Trump, a bridge authority said on Monday.
A formal ribbon cutting is expected later this week, a source told Reuters. Detroit media outlets reported on Monday the Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to open to traffic on June 15.
The ribbon-cutting invitations went out on Monday after a conversation between Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, according to sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke to The Detroit News on Monday.
In recent days, testing of all systems at the bridge, customs plazas and ramps connecting to Michigan and Ontario highways was wrapping up, officials had said. And Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testified last week that Customs & Border Protection staff are “good to go” to enable trade and travel across the newly built, 1.5-mile span from Detroit to Windsor.
“We have the personnel dedicated, ready to move,” Mullin told the Senate Appropriations Committee a week ago.
“We’re prepared, we’re staffed, ready to go. There [are] still negotiations between Canada and the United States that [are] not within DHS that [have] to be resolved. But we’re as far as we can go without the sign-off from the bridge and the final agreement between the two countries.”