With millions lost weekly, what is the true cost of delaying the Gordie Howe bridge opening?

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The immediate, measurable cost is about **$7 million a week**. That is what the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority is reportedly losing for every week the Gordie Howe International Bridge remains unopened. But the larger cost is economic delay. The bridge was built to ease one of North America’s most important trade corridors, linking Detroit and Windsor, where a large share of U.S.-Canada manufacturing traffic moves. Keeping it closed means trucks and travelers remain dependent on older, more congested crossings, especially the Ambassador Bridge, with higher tolls and more bottlenecks. That raises transport costs, wastes driver time, and slows supply chains, particularly for the auto sector. There is also a financing cost. Canada funded the full **C$6.4 billion** project under the original deal and expected to recover that investment through tolls before sharing revenue with Michigan. Every week of delay pushes back that repayment schedule and postpones any eventual revenue stream for Michigan as well. The strategic cost may be even higher. The bridge was meant to add resilience and redundancy to a border crossing that supports hundreds of billions of dollars in annual bilateral trade. Delaying a completed project injects uncertainty into cross-border commerce, discourages investment, and undermines confidence in the reliability of major infrastructure planning. So the true cost is not just $7 million a week in direct losses. It is also the lost efficiency, delayed toll reven…

Lutnick Delays C$6.4 Billion Gordie Howe Bridge Opening to Seek Bigger Toll Share

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Lutnick Delays C$6.4 Billion Gordie Howe Bridge Opening to Seek Bigger Toll Share

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