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Roads: Ambassador & Gordie Howe Bridges

Here's an article regarding the ongoing Ambassador Bridge retrofit. It's not a new article (~1 month), but it talks about how current rehabilitation works on the Ambassador Bridge are going to extend the lifespan of the bridge by 75 years. It is quite extensive, I live close to it and can see what is going on.

This shows that a replacement span is unlikely, given that the Canadian government wants the current bridge ripped down within 5 years after completion of the new span, and has made that a requirement of the approval conditions of the new span.
 
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Ideally, it would be demolished and replaced with nothing to let that part of Windsor recover from the urban decay caused by the bridge. The University of Windsor would have a better campus without the noisy bridge looming above.

The new bridge will be much better located in an industrial area.
 
Ideally, it would be demolished and replaced with nothing to let that part of Windsor recover from the urban decay caused by the bridge. The University of Windsor would have a better campus without the noisy bridge looming above.

The new bridge will be much better located in an industrial area.
The Toll Bridge Troll, aka the billionaire Matty Moroun of Grosse Pointe, doesn't care about downtown Windsor's vitality. He only cares about himself being a toll bridge troll and earning millions of dollars a year.
 
The Toll Bridge Troll, aka the billionaire Matty Moroun of Grosse Pointe, doesn't care about downtown Windsor's vitality. He only cares about himself being a toll bridge troll and earning millions of dollars a year.
One can hope that the Gordie Howe bridge will have lower tolls, or that direct 401 connection makes it the better option. The more Moroun suffers, the better.
 
If both bridges were in service at the same time, you will still see traffic using both bridges. The Ambassador bridge would deal with northbound traffic on I-95/75 and other areas, while the Howe bridge deals with I-75 south and I-95 west. The Howe bridge would see more traffic than the Ambassador at the end of the day.
 
If both bridges were in service at the same time, you will still see traffic using both bridges. The Ambassador bridge would deal with northbound traffic on I-95/75 and other areas, while the Howe bridge deals with I-75 south and I-95 west. The Howe bridge would see more traffic than the Ambassador at the end of the day.
It's I-94, not I-95 (which is a different interstate highway).
 
Truck traffic will likely almost exclusively use the Gordie Howe bridge. The largest choke point in the transit of goods from Canada to Mexico is the stoplights on Huron Church. Once that direct connection to the 401 is made, there's no incentive for any trucker to use the Ambassador anymore unless they're delivering goods in Windsor proper. You'll still probably see a lot of local car traffic using the Ambassador out of pure convenience.
 
No idea why I use 1-95 in place of 94 considering how much I used it.

When both bridges are open, will use Ambassador bridge for Detroit and the north, while using Howe to go south on I-75. Rarely I use the Tunnel. Do use Port Huron by 402 going west of Detroit, as it's faster to me to bypass Detroit 100%.

Not much different cost wise between the Tunnel and Ambassador to say cost is an issue as what to use.

Tuckers will use Howe over Ambassador going south and west, depending how fast they can clear customs.

Until Howe opens, it's a bit of a guess game, with both Feds wanting Howe to be the bridge for a number of reasons.
 
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Ambassador will survive simply because of border crossing times. People will get off the 401 if it means the border wait is shorter.

during off peak periods I imagine it will be essentially empty. During rush hour, it will be about as busy as the new bridge.

Will peak period spillover traffic be enough to justify maintaining or replacing it though?
 

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