In an effort to encourage bi-national tourism between the two countries, both U.S. and Canadian officials have agreed to connect thousands of miles of trails with a new pedestrian bridge across the Detroit River.

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Planned for a 2024 grand opening, the new Gordie Howe International Bridge will be a six-lane, 1.5 mile crossing that will connect Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Canada. Once completed the bridge will be "the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America", according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (FHWA).

With the Detroit-Windsor Gateway being one of the busiest commercial land border crossings between Canada and the U.S., the $4.5 billion bridge project will,

...facilitate the movement of people, goods, and services and ensure that there is sufficient border crossing capacity to accommodate future growth in cross-border trade and traffic.

Mr. Hockey

The historic bridge's namesake is none other than the great hockey legend Gordon "Gordie" Howe. Affectionately referred to as "Mr. Hockey", Gordie hails from The Great White North, but spent his first 25 seasons playing professional hockey with the Detroit Red Wings. It only seems fitting that his new bridge pays homage to one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players."

Detroit-Windsor

According to a press release by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, there has been much interest on the Canadian side to get to Detroit by bike. This new multi-use bike and pedestrian path will create an important connection between the two countries, mostly from a tourism and transportation perspective.

Says the WDBA, their current trail system,

...brings Toronto tourists to Windsor for cycle tourism, but they have no means to get to Detroit with their bikes. We have been told that there is significant interest among Toronto residents to visit and tour Detroit by bike.

Can you imagine such a thing? Just going for a leisurely ride over to Canada? It will soon become a reality! The new bridge is expected to open in late 2023, do you plan to make the trek over to Windsor?

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