DETROIT – The Gordie Howe International Bridge Project will include the construction of five new pedestrian bridges over I-75 in Detroit.
The pedestrian bridge designs were revealed at a news conference Thursday. The bridges will be constructed over I-75 in Detroit at Solvay Street, Beard Street, Waterman Street, Junction Street and Lansing Street. Bridging North America will undertake construction of these pedestrian bridges between 2020 and 2024.
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Representatives from Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and Bridging North America, along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and MDOT officials, made the announcement during a brief news conference Thursday. The governor’s office released this map and pedestrian bridge renderings:
- Total height: 16 feet/4.9 metres from the pedestrian bridge deck
- Bridge clearance over the roadway is 17 feet 3 inches/5.27 metres
- 10-foot/3 metre-wide walkway for users
Installation of the pedestrian bridges will begin in 2020 and continue until early 2024.
Gordie Howe Bridge expected to be ready by 2024
Officials announced in 2018 that the bridge project will cost about $4.4 billion. The bridge is expected to open by 2024. Renderings show what the cable-stayed, or dual-column, bridge will look like, according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.
The expected life span of the bridge is 125 years. The Canadian government is financing the deal, and tolls will pay the tab over time. Officials said the Gordie Howe International Bridge will be the largest cable-stayed bridge in North America when it’s finished.
It will have six lanes as well as bicycle and pedestrian lanes, and will be able to accept hazardous waste, unlike the Ambassador Bridge, officials said.
The bridge is expected to create 2,500 jobs, and about the same will open on both sides of the Detroit River.