Gordie Howe bridge joins national trail
First international border crossing part of 28,000-km Trans Canada network
The Gordie Howe International Bridge will be the first international border crossing in the Trans Canada Trail network.
When it opens in September 2025, the cable-stay bridge's multi-use path will be part of the 28,000-kilometre Canadian trail network, and connect to trail systems in Michigan.
An official announcement from Trans Canada Trail and the Windsor-detroit Bridge Authority on Friday saw a city hall board room packed with officials from both sides of the border.
“It's truly exciting,” said Eleanor Mcmahon, president and CEO of Trans Canada Trail. “It's going to be a part of the tourism experience and the experience of residents for years to come.”
The Gordie Howe will link trail networks in Canada and the United States, connecting the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail — already part of the Trans Canada Trail — in Windsor to the Iron Belle Trail and the Great Lakes Way in Detroit.
Trail users will be able to cross the bridge on foot or bicycle on a multi-use path.
“We heard from community members the importance of including multi-use trail,” said Heather Grondin, chief relations officer with the Windsor-detroit Bridge Authority, which is responsible for the bridge project's oversight and delivery.
“We're only building this bridge once,” she said.
To support the trail feature, the bridge authority is undertaking public consultation through April to help inform plans for the multiuse path.
MP Irek Kusmierczyk (L — Windsor-tecumseh) said the trail system is about “connections” and that Friday's announcement was “historic.”
“When we connect people to nature and the outdoors, it is more likely that we conserve nature, that we conserve the environment, that we conserve the land and waters that surround us.”
MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West) called the partnership a “restoration” of a cross-border connection temporarily lost when the Canada-u.s. border closed during the pandemic.
Friday's announcement builds on a binational trails tourism partnership between Trans Canada Trail, Ontario's Waterfront Regeneration Trust, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which was announced in 2022 to promote trails as connectors to nature, tourism, and cultural attractions.
“Connecting the Trans Canada Trail, which is the longest trail network anywhere in the world, to that bridge is quite a remarkable feat,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
Mcmahon said the Trans Canada Trail team is working with the city to identify gaps in its trail system. Both parties will work together to close those gaps.
“Everyone is rowing in the same direction,” Dilkens said. “We're going to make this right for residents in the community.
The total length of the Gordie Howe International Bridge will be 2.5 kilometres.