After eight years of construction, more than a quarter-century of planning, and months of international political issues, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is finally set to open next Monday, July 27.
For commercial truckers and nonprofits in southwest Detroit, this bridge is a game changer.
“Since it first started until now, we just won’t believe it until it’s officially opened and it’s us driving across that bridge,” Mohamed Saaidi, the Vice President of McLaren Transport, said on Thursday (July 23).
The company, which sits in the shadow of the new span in southwest Detroit, opened in 2019 and primarily hauls auto parts for the Big Three automakers.
His trucks have experienced numerous issues crossing the 96-year-old Ambassador Bridge, the only land border crossing in Detroit.
“With all the traffic getting held up at Customs, that’s one of the major problems,” Saaidi said. “With [the Ambassador Bridge] being two lanes, that’s another major issue that we deal with.
“With this new bridge coming in, it’s more modern, and they have more scanner technology, so we’ll be in and out,” he added. “It goes directly from (Interstate) 75 to (Highway) 401. So that right there saves us about 15 to 30 minutes on each trip that we do, so it’s a game changer for us.”
The new bridge will also help reduce traffic congestion and divert heavy commercial traffic away from residential neighborhoods in southwest Detroit and Windsor.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced in March that tolls to cross the Howe Bridge will be less than half that of the Ambassador Bridge for commercial trucks and more than a dollar cheaper for passenger vehicles.
Commercial trucks that sign up for the Howe Bridge’s “Breakaway” discount toll program will pay charges of $6.90 U.S. dollars per axle.
That comes out to $34.50 for a typical five-axle semi-truck as compared to $75 for the Ambassador Bridge.
The Full Price is $43.75, as opposed to $100 at the Ambassador Bridge.
“With the savings we have, we can get more new trucks, and more new trailers,” Saaidi said. “We can hire a lot more people.”
Sourced in Canada
Inside McLaren’s terminal is a massive refrigerator that holds thousands of vegetables belonging to the Metro Food Rescue.
It was started in Southwest Detroit in April 2025
Its mission is to take food that would otherwise be discarded and give it to needy families.
“When you go into a store, especially here in Michigan, in the middle of the Winter, the produce you’re looking at is likely from Canada,” Chad Techner, founder of the Metro Food Rescue, said. “We source food from all over the place, from Canada all the way down to Mexico and anywhere it’s available.
“We waste 40 percent of the food in this country while one in five kids doesn’t have enough to eat,” he added. “As a father of four young kids, it’s just mind-blowing to me that both things are happening at the same time.”
On Thursday, Techner, along with a group of workers, was loading box trucks with fruits, vegetables, and bread to deliver to food pantries in southwest Detroit.
The produce they get comes largely from a farm in Leamington, Ontario.
“The greenhouses in Canada are less than an hour from here,” Techner said. “So, a lot of the produce that we get year-round comes from Canada.
“Right now, in the middle of summer, we’re starting to see more and more Michigan produce and Ohio produce coming online,” he added. “But with the heated greenhouses [in Canada], they’re able to produce all year long, like it’s a tropical environment.”
Due to tolls and long waits at the Ambassador Bridge, farms have been hauling a lot of food over the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia and coming down through Port Huron, adding time and fuel costs.
The Howe Bridge will make getting food from Canada easier to fulfill their mission of helping families in need.
“Everybody knows that this problem exists,” Techner said of food insecurity. “It’s the world’s dumbest problem. We waste all this food, and there are people who need it.
“We partnered with Sharing Excess on a project down here at the produce terminal last April, and next week we’re actually going to surpass 9 million pounds, or 45 million servings, of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered out to the community,” Techner said. “We just need your help to bridge that gap.”