Less than 10% of U.S. properties left to be acquired for Gordie Howe bridge

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is on schedule to be finished in 2024 and open to traffic by end of that year. Once it's open to the public, there will be some finishing touches on the bridge, and the final completion date is expected to be 2025.

That information came out of the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority annual public meeting.

According to board chair Dwight Duncan, 90 per cent of the Michigan properties for the U.S. port of entry have been acquired.

"That number increases to 96 per cent when you include properties which are under a court order to vacate," said Duncan.

He reassured people the bridge project is moving forward no matter what.

"Four per cent is four percent, but this project is going forward and there's no one out there that can stop us."

The bridge authority expects to acquire those properties by 2021.

A video showing a rendering of the bridge explains it will have "highway-to-highway" connections, from Highway 401 in Windsor to I-75 in Detroit.

According to the bridge authority's annual report, as of March 31 2018, more than 575 workers from 50 companies have been trained to work at the Canadian port of entry. On the U.S. project side, more than 20 "disadvantaged business enterprises" were hired to work.

There will be a public meeting at Mackenzie Hall on Dec. 4 to explain the community benefits portion of this project.

In January, the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor is also expected to release a report on the economic impact of the bridge.