The opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been delayed. That comes despite an initial plan to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at the end of this week.

In a statement to WDET, Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority officials say the U.S. and Canada have agreed to push back the opening of the span. They say that’s being done in order to take the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues.

The statement did not detail what those issues are. President Trump has threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, saying he wants the international crossing to be a better deal for the U.S.

No American federal dollars were used to construct the span, with the Canadian government footing the entire bill for the bridge deck. Canada and Michigan have planned to split toll revenue after Canada repays itself for construction costs.

It is unclear what a deal to open the Gordie Howe Bridge would look like.

Detroit and Windsor sit across a narrow river from each other, close enough to see the lights on the other side. For decades, they existed like one town in two countries. Auto parts crossed the water again and again before a single car was finished. Families, music, and Saturday nights moved back and forth with a constant rhythm.

Then, after 9/11, crossing got harder with longer waits and tougher searches.

Soon, the two cities will cut the ribbon on something new between them: the Gordie Howe International Bridge. That ribbon cutting, scheduled for June 12, has been postponed, and officials aren’t saying exactly why. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the bridge a symbol, but also a fact of cooperation. Yet it comes at a tense moment. President Donald Trump has threatened to block it, wrongly claiming the U.S. would get nothing from a bridge that Michigan actually co-owns.

So what does this bridge, the first publicly-owned one at this border, do for Windsor and Detroit — and for the people who have spent their lives crossing between them? 

On The Metro, host Robyn Vincent spoke with Lee Rodney, a border-culture scholar at the University of Windsor and creator of the Border Bookmobile, about what a new bridge actually does for a region the border has divided.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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