Cross-border Partnership Seeks To Formally Connect Great Lakes Trails

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When Detroit's Gordie Howe International Bridge opens in 2024, it will be the only toll-free bridge on the Atlantic, but it won't be the only toll-free bridge between the US and Canada.

The Detroit Free Press reports the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is working on an agreement with groups in Canada to connect the Great Lakes Way tract of trails and waterways between Port Huron and Toledo to trails on the other side of the border through joint marketing and possibly programming.

"All this will come together in 2024 when the new Gordie Howe International Bridge opens," says John Hartig, chair of the Great Lakes Way advisory group for the Community Foundation. "It will truly be transformative for our two regions, bringing new and expanded opportunities for outdoor recreation, ecotourism, transboundary conservation and celebration of history and culture."

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust and Trans Canada Trail recognize, with the Community Foundation, "the value and potential of a bi-national trail collaboration to celebrate the Great Lakes and connect people to this global treasure," says Marlaine Koehler, executive director of the Canadian trust.

The trust has been working on the Canadian shores of the Great Lakes for 30 years in partnership with 155 communities and indigenous people to create the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, the world's longest.

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