Bridge opening delayed again

The opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been delayed until early 2026.

The bridge was originally scheduled to open in November 2024, but a new target was set for fall 2025.

Now, Chief Relations Officer Heather Grondin said as they've been testing different processes, the opening will be delayed further.

"Our focus is wanting to make sure that when we do open, we can safely say that we haven't compromised on our worker's safety, that trade can be moved securely, and that we've achieved that efficiency that we've talked about for years as being associated with our project and our bridge," said Grondin.

The Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority is working with Bridging North America, the Canadian Border Service Agency, the US Customs and Border Protection, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, and emergency services to test all of the operations.

"With each round of testing that we do on various components of the project it does lead to adjustments, maybe minor changes in the processes, maybe minor changes in the systems that we've installed and then a retesting," said Grondin.

Neighbours around the bridge project will continue to see testing of the aesthetic lighting over the next coming weeks.

She indicated the actual construction of the bridge, along with all of its associated components, is around 98 per cent complete. At the peak of the project, there were approximately 2,500 workers on site daily whereas now that number is down to a couple hundred.

The project budget is still set at $6.4 billion. There is no set penalty for not completing the project on time.

"At this point, it's really about achieving the performance requirements that have been baked into our project agreement," said Grondin. "Once we're in operations Bridging North America as the operator of the facility will need to continue to meet those performance requirements and the payment approach during that period is based on meeting those performance requirements."

The decision to delay the bridge project further was made over the last couple of weeks.