Detroit-Windsor Tunnel saw traffic bump after Trump’s Gordie Howe bridge threat

The political contributions of the Ambassador Bridge owner have been in the spotlight

Traffic at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is up over the last month, the CEO says — and he suspects it has something to do with recent political discussion about Windsor’s other two border crossings: The Ambassador Bridge and yet-to-open Gordie Howe.

“We saw about a six per cent bump … so about 250 cars a day, which is pretty significant,” said Tal Czudner.

That accounts for the month between Feb. 9, when U.S. President Donald Trump took to social media to threaten to stall the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and March 8, compared with the same period in 2025.

In his post, Trump said the United States needed to own at least half of the bridge, though the federal government paid for the bridge, which is jointly owned with the state of Michigan.

According to reports, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge spoke with the commerce secretary just hours before Trump made the threat — and it prompted calls to take the tunnel instead, which is jointly owned by the cities of Windsor and Detroit.

“We’re paying a $5 million dividend to the City of Windsor in the 2026 budget and I don’t know of how, financially, the Ambassador Bridge company is necessarily helping the community and the citizens of Windsor,” Czudner said. 

It also costs less to take the tunnel, Czudner noted: $8.25 from Windsor to Detroit compared to the Ambassador Bridge’s $14. 

Czudner acknowledges the reasons behind the bump are anecdotal, but are based on conversations his staff have with new faces passing through. He says they plan to take a full survey of their customers in the next couple of months.

“I think it’s politics. I mean, the two Ps are politics and price,” he said.

“Even if the politics are not something that concerns you, you might not have been aware of, when you flash your credit card, that it was 14 bucks at the Ambassador Bridge.”

Czudner says overall traffic at the bridge is still down compared to 2024 because discretionary travel is down, though the tunnel has steady commuter traffic.

But with concert and sports seasons coming up, Czudner says he expects crossings to rise in the coming months.

Source: CBC