Gordie Howe bridge nears opening: Ribbon-cutting ceremony reportedly planned for Friday

Sources close to the plans to open Canada's newest border crossing say that the opening is planned for the end of the week after months of anticipation.

A major milestone for the Gordie Howe International Bridge could come this week.

According to the Detroit News, citing three sources familiar with the plans, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Windsor-Detroit crossing is expected to take place Friday. The report says it will open to traffic on Monday, June 15.

The ceremony would mark the culmination of eight years of construction on the $6.4-billion project linking Michigan and Ontario.

An official opening date has not yet been announced. Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials told lawmakers they are fully staffed and ready to support trade and travel across the span once final approvals are in place.

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority continues to say testing and commissioning work continues, with the bridge progressing toward a spring opening.

The mayor of Windsor says the city hasn’t been told or invited to a ribbon cutting on Friday.

“I’m hopeful that if we get to a point in time where we find a pathway forward with a new trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, that it would be the type of event where we would actually get a ribbon cutting on the middle where the president, the prime minister, meet in the middle and we celebrate a binational relationship and the trade agreements that we have in place,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens.

“I hope that that still happens once we get to the end of an upgraded CUSMA.”

CTV News Windsor has reached out to government officials on both sides of the border.