this right here is the busiest segment of the US Canada border and it's set to open a brand new major crossing the Gordy how international bridge once completed it'll connect the city of Detroit in Michigan to Windsor Ontario providing uninterrupted traffic flow between Canada and the United States however just a few kilometers to the north there already seems to be another bridge that serves the exact same purpose going further north there's even a tunnel that does the same thing so why are they building a new one and how is it going to be any different
hey my name's Regis and let's take a closer look the United States of America and Canada are the largest and Ninth largest economies in the world respectively and with both of them being each other's biggest trade partner it isn't too surprising to think that the border between these two countries is one of the most developed and interconnected borders in the entire world in fact this border actually has more than a 100 different land Crossings various roads highways Bridges and tunnels that are scattered throughout its entire length what's even crazier is that as much as $
3.6 billion worth of goods and services crosses the US Canada border every single day the amount of trade that crosses this border on a daily basis is actually bigger than the GDP of entire full-fledged countries nearly a third of all that trade is actually concentrated right here in this narrow Corridor that passes through the cities of Detroit and Windsor across the Detroit River this region sees billions of dollars of trade every day as it's located between multiple population centers and transportation hubs one of the major Crossings in this area is the Ambassador Bridge a 2.3
km suspension bridge that's actually the single busiest international border crossing in all of North America in terms of sheer trade volume at least billions upon billions of dollars of merchandise passes through this single Bridge alone accounting for more than a quarter of all traded goods between the US and Canada however despite its obvious importance and strategic location there are many different issues and controversies surrounding this bridge for one the Ambassador Bridge is actually completely privately owned despite it being a vital International Crossing ever since it opened back in 1929 neither the governments of Detroit nor
Windsor has ever owned the bridge this means that all tolls taxes and revenue coming from the Bridge's operations don't go back towards meaningful infrastructure developments in the surrounding areas instead the bridge is operated completely as a for-profit Endeavor and most Revenue that's generated is only used for its maintenance and operation and although there are alternate routes that pass through this area such as the nearby Detroit Windsor Tunnel the Ambassador Bridge basically has a monopoly over most border crossings in this region this is because the tunnel only has two lanes of traffic and doesn't allow for
the passage of large trucks on the other hand the Ambassador Bridge has two more Lanes allows all types of vehicles and it even connects to a major highway than metropolitan area on the American side another major issue with the Ambassador Bridge is its layout and configuration despite seeing as many as 10,000 trucks passing through it each day the bridge only carries four lanes across the Detroit River because of this The Crossing is almost always overwhelmed and congested and who likes sitting in traffic it also doesn't help that over on the Canadian side of the border
the Port of Entry doesn't connect to any major highway instead the current setup actually has the bridge exiting into a residential area with narrow streets that aren't really suited for the traffic that passes through it because of all these issues along with the undoubtedly outdated structure of the Ambassador Bridge which is actually more than 90 years old now a brand new and modern Crossing is long overdue and this is where the Gordy how international bridge comes [Music] in the project was first proposed all the way back in the early 2000s through a partnership between the
national governments of the United States and Canada as as well as the transportation Departments of both Michigan and Ontario the entire structure will span a total of 22 km and would become the longest cable State Bridge in North America it'll carry six Lanes of traffic as well as a path for cyclists and pedestrians over the Detroit River interestingly the bridge will not come with a railway and this is mainly due to the fact that there's already a train tunnel in the area which is mainly used for freight trains the Gordy how bridge will be located
just 3 km Downstream from the already existing Ambassador Bridge this proximity has as you might imagine already caused a lot of tension between the two Bridges as they will inevitably be competing against each other for profits once the new one is completed owner of the Ambassador Bridge has even tried multiple times to derail the construction on the project but we'll get more into that topic a little later the structure will be supported by two massive Towers on both sides of the river with an impressive height of 220 M each this will make the tower on
the Canadian Side by far the tallest structure in the city while the one on the American side sits comfortably as the second tallest the bridge is named after famous Canadian professional hockey player Gordy how who is most well known for his time with the Detroit Red Wings and as one of the greatest players to have ever played the sport the decision behind this name is likely due to the symbolic similarities between Gordy how himself and the new bridge former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder probably explained it best when he said in an interview if you really
think about it who better represents the two countries and the bond between us in terms of being a legend in both Detroit and Canada just a year before his passing the news of the Bridge's name reached Gordy how himself and his reaction to the dedication towards him was just simply that sounds pretty good to me aside from the bridge itself the project also consists of two ports of entries on both sides of the border on the Canadian side a 50 hectare facility will be built which will include border inspection and Bridge maintenance facilities as well
as areas for toll collection unlike the existing Crossings the Gordy how international bridge will connect directly to Ontario Highway 401 which will provide a much more seamless flow of traffic in and out of the Crossing on the other side of the border the US Port of Entry will be built in a 70 hectare facility that'll include border inspection facilities as well as dedicated Highway ramps towards Interstate 75 these two ports of Entry will provide for the very first time uninterrupted highway traffic flow between Detroit and Windsor in total the entire project is estimated to cost
as much as $6.4 billion and is going to be entirely funded by the Canadian government because of this all aspects of the construction such as design engineering planning and land acquisition will all be done under a Canadian Federal Crown Corporation called The Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority this same company will also oversee the future operations of the bridge the Canadian government hopes to repay all costs of the Bridge's construction through future Bridge tolls because of this setup there aren't actually any toll boots on the US side of the crossing all payments will be collected on the
Canadian side and the entire revenue generated from the bridge will go directly towards Canada alone construction on the project began back in 2018 and was expected to complete 6 years later in 2024 however because of the covid-19 pandemic the opening date for the bridge has now been moved by an entire year just recently in June 2024 a major milestone in the project was reached when the main deck of the bridge was finally connected in the middle of the Detroit River the event was marked by a topping out ceremony where workers from both sides of the
Border signed the final segment of the deck and placed a traditional evergreen tree in the middle which symbolizes a job well done the entire project along with both of the facilities on either side of the Border is currently set to open sometime in 2025 but despite all this progress on the project as well as all the potential benefits that it would bring to the region there have actually been many attempts in the past to derail it and it all comes down to one man the person who stands to lose the most with the construction of
the new bridge Manuel maroon the owner of the Ambassador Bridge as well as the duty free shops and gas stations on either side of of the crossing when the project was still in its earliest stages in 2010 morun sued the governments of Canada and Michigan to stop all work towards constructing a new crossing over the Detroit River according to him a new bridge would interfere with his right to build a second span of the Ambassador Bridge right next to the existing one in 2012 maroon spent as much as $30 million to sponsor a proposed amendment
to Michigan's Constitution that would have required the approval of both Detroit and Michigan's voters in a Statewide election before a new bridge could be built however this proposal was soon rejected when Michigan voters voted down the amendment throughout the rest of the 2010s maroon would continue to sue the governments of Canada and Michigan multiple times over the construction of the new bridge however every single one of his lawsuits were soon dismissed by the United States Supreme Court even after his passing back in 2020 maron's family and estate continued to seek legal action against the government
by preparing to file yet another case for damages regarding the new Bridge's construction but despite all of maron's efforts to maintain his Monopoly over the border crossing the Gordy how international bridge now seems all but completed with the entire span of the bridge already connecting both sides of the border the hardest part of this Mega Project's construction has already been taken care of and now we'll just have to wait and see how this new bridge will affect Detroit when and the rest of the US and Canada so what do you think about the Gordy how
international bridge would it completely replace the existing Bridge let us know your thoughts in the comments down below if you want to see more about similar projects you should watch our video about Italy's insane straight of mesina bridge thank you for watching and as always we'll see you in the next video a
