DETROIT – A stretch of both directions of I-75 will shut down this weekend as construction ramps up on the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Canada.
Both directions of I-75 will be closed from Springwells Street to Clark Street beginning Friday, Dec. 6 at about 11 p.m. to allow for demolition of three road bridges. Lanes are expected to reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, Dec 9.
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Here are the suggested detour routes:
- Local traffic can continue to exit northbound I-75 at Springwells Street and enter northbound I-75 at Clark Street.
- Southbound I-75 traffic can exit at Clark Street and enter southbound I-75 at Springwells Street.
- West Fisher Service Drives between Springwells Street and Clark Street, on both sides of the Interstate, will remain open throughout that weekend.
- These nearby I-75 road bridges will remain open from fall 2019 to winter 2020: Green Street, Waterman Street, Dragoon Street, Junction Avenue and West Grand Boulevard.
- During the December 6-9 weekend, regional traffic traveling toward Detroit from Toledo, Ohio, on I-75 will be directed to take I-275 north to I-96, then I-96 east in order to reconnect with northbound I-75.
- Traffic traveling to Toledo from Auburn Hills, Michigan, on I-75 will be directed to take I-96 west to I-275, then I-275 south to reconnect with southbound I-75.
- Traffic exiting the Ambassador Bridge toll plaza and traveling to Toledo will be directed to take I-96 west to I-275 south to connect with southbound I-75.
Officials announced last year that the Gordie Howe International 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.
Dwight Duncan, chair of the WDBA Board of Directors, strongly defended the plans and the costs last year.
"This is actually very good value for the money," Duncan said.
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.
Duncan said 7,000 trucks go back and forth at the crossing each day, and he expects that traffic will increase once the new bridge is operating.