DETROIT (WXYZ) — Officials with the Gordie Howe Bridge are offering details on how travelers will use the international crossing in a new video on their YouTube channel.
Among other content related to the bridge, the channel has chronicled the construction of the bridge, as well as the Ports of Entry facilities on both sides of the border, as well as the construction of the connections of the new bridge to I-75.
The channel has provided up-to-date developments about the construction, including last summer when both sides of the bridge were connected.
The new video, entitled The Canadian Port of Entry Experience,details that portion of the crossing, including that both ports of entry will be the largest such facilities on the US/Canadian border. The Canadian Port of Entry is approximately 130 acres in size, according to the video.
Among the technologies being put into place to ensure ease of travel at the Port of Entry is electronic tolling payments, including the use of transponders and credit cards, according to Grant Hilbers, the Chief Capital Officer of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. He says the complex will feature 16 tolling lanes, 8 in either direction. The toll booths will be the first thing you encounter if you are entering the complex from Canada or the last stop before entering the Canadian Highway system.
Hilbers says all the information on the tolling system, including how to obtain an electronic payment transponder, will be released closer to the opening of the bridge.
The canopy at the tolling booths is designed to represent the blades of a wind turbine, according to David Pitt, the Superintendent for the Canadian Port of Entry for Bridging North America, the organization that is building the bridge complex.
The video also features information about the Client Processing Center, which will be where cyclists and pedestrians will be processed into Canada. Pedestrians and cyclists will have a dedicated path through the complex and over the bridge.
Officials also revealed that the 24 inspection lanes will be categorized so that commercial and non-commercial traffic do not share the same inspection lanes, with 12 lanes set aside for each. While the commercial lanes will contain mostly high-level booths for trucks, the non-commercial lanes will include both high and low-level booths, with the high-level booths available for RV and larger vehicle traffic. There will also be bi-level booths, which can be used for all types of vehicles.
The inspection lanes will be the first part of the facility that anyone entering into Canada will encounter. From there, anyone entering will be sent either to the toll plaza or to the secondary inspection building for further processing, which has a large canopy with space for parking for 35 cars and 3 buses. The canopy also features translucent panels to allow in natural light.
The canopy is also connected to the main building of the complex, which will house all of the government agencies operating at the Canadian Port of Entry. This will be where travelers will have to pay any duties they need to prior to entering the country, or to report to the Canada Border Services Agency. The building is split into two, with one half housing facilities for non-commercial travelers, while the other will house facilities for commercial travelers.
There is also a commercial parking area adjacent to the main building, with enough spaces for 37 commercial vehicles. The main building also features areas for cold storage, as well as an animal inspection, which will allow animals to be taken off of trucks, brought into the inspection area, and then put back on the trucks. The main building's warehouse area also features 14 Commercial Secondary Inspection Bays. where trucks can be offloaded, inspected, and then cleared for passage into the country.
In the video, officials also detailed the HAZMAT canopy area, which is being built away from the main building. The facility and its location are viewed as a precaution that will allow them to deal with situations like a leaking truck.
There is also a Large Scale Imaging building which is said to be a "Scale, truck-sized x-ray building," which will allow trucks to be driven in, x-rayed, and then driven through. Because of the nature of the X-rays and radiation, the walls of that building are 3 meters thick, which translates into just under 10 feet. According to the video, this is only the second crossing with such a facility in place.
Just past the inspection area, but before the toll plaza is a dedicated road for travelers to return to the US. This is both for people who have decided not to enter Canada and those who have been refused entry. The road was conceived so that the process could be completed safely and not disrupt the flow of traffic.
The entire Gordie Howe International Bridge complex is scheduled to open later this year. However, an exact date has not been set and officials are only saying it will open in Fall.
