As normalcy returned to the few blocks of Windsor, Ont., that were occupied in early February by Ambassador Bridge blockaders, construction crews continued work on a new nearby span to give auto companies and other border traffic another option for crossing the Detroit River.

The six-day blockade refocused attention on the $4.5 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, said Heather Grondin, a spokeswoman at the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), the federal Crown corporation overseeing construction of the new crossing.

With towering piers rising on both sides of the river, the six-lane bridge will soon reshape how people and goods traverse the busiest trade route between Canada and the U.S., she said.

“It’s going to allow for redundancy or crossing choice, which is critical. It will allow for future capacity, thinking about how travel demand will continue to grow over time.”

In addition to being an alternative to the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, the new span will help ease congestion. The Howe bridge links directly to Ontario’s Highway 401 and Michigan’s Interstate 75. The two multilane highways — at some points as wide as 18 lanes near Toronto — are a main artery for the automotive industry, connecting suppliers to automakers in both countries. The nearly century-old Ambassador suspension bridge, however, is not seamlessly connected to a divided highway on the Canadian side.

“[The new bridge] results in better trip-time repeatability and, importantly, predictability, which is so important in this commercial environment, where just-in-time delivery is at the base of everyone’s decision-making,” Grondin said.

Determined to open in 2024

With construction activity currently at its peak, about 2,500 people are working on the four major components of the bridge project, which includes ports of entry in Canada and the U.S., the interchange with I-75 in Michigan and the 1.5-mile bridge itself. Roughly three-and-a-half years into construction, the bridge’s two main support piers currently top out at 430 feet , about three-fifths of their eventual 722-foot height.

“We’re still working toward our contracted opening date of end of 2024,” Grondin said, “of course keeping in mind when we set that date, there wasn’t a pandemic that we were dealing with.”

The WDBA does not have projections for how much traffic from the Ambassador Bridge and other crossings the Howe bridge will siphon off. Grondin expects a significant percentage of commercial and passenger vehicles to switch to the new route once the bridge opens.

Both truck traffic and passenger vehicles will pay tolls to cross the Howe bridge, but rates have not been determined. The WDBA plans to set the toll at a cost that’s competitive with other crossings in the region.

“We need more trade infrastructure, that’s just a given,” Canadian Vehicle Manufacturer’s Association President Brian Kingston recently said on an episode of the Automotive News Canada Podcast. “The Gordie Howe Bridge, scheduled to open in 2024, will be a huge benefit to not just the auto industry but trade at large.”

Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association said on the same episode that the industry “knew 20 years ago it was incredibly important to have a second access” to the U.S. from Windsor, “especially after the bottlenecks caused by 9/11.”

The Detroit 3, all of them with multiple plants in Ontario, “especially need the comfort of a second access point,” Volpe said.

“Detroit relies on Windsor access,” Volpe said.

He said suppliers based in the Greater Toronto Area view Windsor and Detroit “as one city.”

Of the Gordie Howe Bridge, Volpe said: “You can’t understate its importance and I wish it was up right now.”

With files from Greg Layson.