The Gordie Howe International Bridge opened its multi-use path to pedestrians and cyclists on Wednesday morning, completing the last piece of the $6.4-billion span between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, and giving the public a way to walk or bike across the Canada-U.S. border for the first time in half a century.
The toll-free, 2.5-kilometre path opened to the public at 8 a.m. Wednesday, following the bridge’s opening to vehicle traffic on July 27. It runs 12 feet wide with room for two-way pedestrian and cyclist traffic, and connects Windsor’s Great Lakes Waterfront Trail directly to Detroit’s Iron Belle Trail and the Great Lakes Way. Separate Canadian and U.S. border processing facilities on the bridge itself let trail users complete their crossing without detouring to a vehicle checkpoint, according to a release from Trans Canada Trail, which is welcoming the crossing as the first international border crossing to join its 30,000-kilometre trail network.
Anyone crossing is required to carry proper travel documentation, such as a passport, for entry and re-entry into both countries. The path is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the summer, with last entry at 7 p.m., and there is no on-site parking at either port of entry: in Windsor, parking is available at the Malden Park trailhead, and in Detroit at the Clark Park trailhead.
“Being able to walk and ride your bike across the bridge was one of those community battles in the course of that 25-year history,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said, according to AM 800 CKLW. “When I look at everything put together … Windsor won. We stuck together, and we won. We’ve got a great roadway leading to a great bridge, and the ability to ride your bike and cross it on foot, something you haven’t been able to do for 50 years, it’s going to be exciting for everyone who lives here.”
Dilkens said the city hasn’t yet decided whether it will launch initiatives specifically tied to the new path, but expects cyclist interest to help guide future investment. “I still think you’re going to have active interest from cyclists who want to cross the Gordie Howe Bridge, connect on the Detroit side into the Detroit network which is quite strong and robust as well,” he said. “We’ll figure it out over time… we want to make sure that we capitalize on the tourism initiatives that this presents.”
Trans Canada Trail CEO Mathieu Roy called the crossing “a powerful reminder that thoughtful, multi-use infrastructure can inspire pride, unity and connection,” while Michigan Department of Natural Resources director Scott Bowen said the state is looking to grow its more than 13,700 miles of designated trails around the new 1.5-mile crossing into the Iron Belle Trail.
The path is expected to become a draw for cross-border trail tourism, linking visitors on both sides of the river to Ontario’s Essex County wine region, Ojibway National Urban Park, the Detroit RiverWalk and the Joe Louis Greenway. Nationally, the Trans Canada Trail says its network generates $23.1 billion in annual economic activity and supports 221,000 jobs, with more than 200 million visits recorded on trail sections last year.
Wednesday’s opening caps a construction and advocacy effort that stretched back roughly 25 years, according to Dilkens, and follows the bridge’s vehicle-traffic opening on July 27. City officials expect heavy first-day use and are asking pedestrians and cyclists to be patient as crowds test the new route.
With files from AM 800 CKLW and GlobeNewswire. Sources: AM 800 CKLW (Bell Media), “Windsor won: Dilkens on the opening of Gordie Howe International Bridge multi-use path”; GlobeNewswire/Trans Canada Trail official release, Aug. 5, 2026.
