The Gordie Howe International Bridge is taking another step forward. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority issued an Request for Proposals Thursday for the project. It will be a six-lane, 1.5 mile bridge, either cable or suspension, and they’ve narrowed it down to three proponents. Bridging North America, CanAm Gateway Partners, and Legacy Link Partners all pre-qualified in the RFQ process.
The project includes four components – the Canadian and US Ports of Entry, the bridge over the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit, and the Michigan Interchange connecting to Interstate-75. The RFP process is expected to take 18 months. The original timeline was to get the bridge completed in 2020, which looks pretty unlikely now.
The project should have a major impact on the Delray neighborhood, as that’s where much of the US Plaza is expected to be built.
Also, the Detroit News is reporting that Canada doesn’t see the progress of the bridge affected by the Trump election. In a statement,
""We do not anticipate any impact to the project. WDBA has a great relationship with our U.S. partners and we are fully committed to building our two countries," said Dwight Duncan, chairman of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority Board of Directors in a statement."
Want to see what it might look like? Here’s a handy video.