Tuesday, February 17, 2026
-Bill Crane-
In the world which most of us live in, bridge builders bring people and places together. They connect, solve problems and find solutions. In the more literal sense, bridges ford creeks and streams, cross great rivers, lakes and even parts of oceans, facilitating transportation, commerce and even to some extent, evolution. Physically and aesthetically, the world’s great bridges offer both scenic ‘must sees’ and engineering marvels, as well as some of the most unique views, such as atop the Golden Gate Bridge or the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Which brings us to Detroit, Michigan and its sister city, Windsor, Canada, on the banks of the Detroit River, which connects Lake St. Clair to Canada and the north and Lake Erie to the south. The Ambassador Bridge, an international suspension bridge connecting Michigan to Canada opened in 1929. The privately-owned, toll bridge is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume, carrying more than 25 percent of all trade between the U.S. and Canada by value. The Ambassador Bridge, along with the nearby Detroit/Windsor Tunnel, supports roughly 150,000 jobs and $13 billion in annual production value for the region. Though Motor City is no longer the capital of America’s automotive industry, the Midwest and Michigan remain major centers for automotive manufacturing and assembly. Various automotive parts and components cross back and forth across that Ambassador Bridge or the related rail lines or the tunnel as many as a dozen times before landing in a finished automobile or truck.
The Ambassador Bridge was owned by Groose Pointe, Michigan billionaire Manuel Moroun until his death in July 2020. The previous owners put the bridge on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979. Mr. Moroun was able to buy controlling shares and eventually acquired the bridge. But this bridge which is under constant use and has limited traffic capacity, is now also nearly a century old.
A New Bridge In Town?
The government of Canada began construction of another bridge, the Gordie Howe International Bridge in 2012, allowing six lanes of traffic and connecting Interstate 75 in the United States, with Canadian Highway 401 in Ontario. The Ambassador Bridge currently connects to Windsor city streets on the Canadian side, despite the presence of massive trucks which are not allowed to use the tunnel. After attempting to buy and upgrade the Ambassador Bridge from Mr. Maroun, the Canadian government bore all the costs and built the now complete Gordie Howe International Bridge spanning the same Detroit River, a bit downstream.
The Canadians used both U.S. and Canadian workers and steel to build the bridge. Tolls will be charged for crossing, and until the $4.7 billion in USD constructions costs are recouped ($6.4 billion CAD), the Canadian government and public/private corporation created to construct and manage the bridge will receive all proceeds. Once those bonds are retired, Canada and the state of Michigan will split the toll proceeds.
During the 2016 Presidential campaign and later, candidate and later President Donald J. Trump supported the massive GHI Bridge construction project. Trump had personally overseen the renovation of the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City, connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan with Brooklyn at an earlier point in his career.
But now, as billions spent in construction, engineering and roadway and interstate connections, the Gordie Howie is ready for traffic to roll. The Moroun family tried in many ways over the years to halt construction in court, stating that a new bridge would infringe on their alleged exclusive right to collect tolls and to own the only vehicular traffic bridge straddling the Detroit River. Multiple court cases, in Michigan and Canada found otherwise.
Boy…What a Maroon…
But the Moroun family perhaps found one more court of last resort, pleading their case to now again President Trump, who now opposes the opening of the Gordie Howe. Trump says that MORE U.S. steel should have been utilized during construction, and that MORE U.S. workers should have also been involved. Does it make sense that a party, or a nation, contributing no funding should direct another company or country’s vetted, approved and publicly needed project?
It cannot be easy being an ally of the United States these days. Other than Great Britain and the United Kingdom, none has been their longer or more constantly than neighboring Canada. IF only viewed through President Trump’s equally vocal trade policy, our President has frequently said that allies and trade partners alike have taken advantage of the United States for decades, not paid their fair share, that our trade partners need to do more business and buy more American made goods and additionally this President demands that trade partners take on a larger share of costs of national defense and infrastructure investments.
Contradictions for Canada?
I am not an engineer or an economist, but this project would seem to check each and all of those boxes. Canada even purchased the land for the bridge footings on the I-75, Detroit, Michigan side and is planning to manage and maintain the bridge, while the aging Ambassador is piling up safety and maintenance violations and construction worker deaths.
On my first and subsequent visits to Detroit, I often found the highlights of my stay to be across the bridge in Windsor, which had lower crime rates, casinos and other entertainment options and the unique pleasure of a 7,500 bridge span or its companion tunnel to make the trek. I don’t recommend either in the depths of winter, but in spring, summer and early fall the views are spectacular.
It would seem that President Trump’s views or at least judgment is clouded. More trade between the two countries as well as commerce between Ontario and Michigan benefits the entire region and U.S. economy. It would make less than no sense to waste billions and not open the U.S. side of a new and improved bridge. Only the Moroun’s family voices appear to be seeking to ignore the beautiful addition to the waterfront and skyline of both cities. Or maybe it is something much more logical… The Ambassador Bridge is Exit 47 off of I-75, while the new and improved Gordie Howe International span is only Exit 46. Oh Canada!
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