Skip to main content

Ambassador Bridge

While on a recent trip through Ontario I returned to the United States via the Ambassador Bridge.


The Ambassador Bridge connects King's Highway 3 in Windsor, Ontario to Interstates 75 and 96 in Detroit, Michigan.  The Ambassador Bridge crosses the Detroit River which serves as the International Boundary between Canada and the United States.  The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest trade crossing between Canada and the United States carrying close to a quarter of freight between the two countries.

The first study to construct a bridge over the Detroit River was ordered by the United States Congress in 1889 but ultimately was not approved.   Plans to build a bridge over the Detroit River weren't revisited until 1919 which ultimately resulted in construction of the Ambassador Bridge beginning in August of 1927.  The Ambassador Bridge opened to traffic in November of 1929.

The Ambassador Bridge is a suspension design which carries four lanes of undivided traffic.  The Ambassador Bridge is 7,500 feet in length with the longest span being 1,850 feet in length.  The maximum clearance beneath the roadway to the Detroit River is 152 feet.  The Ambassador Bridge is presently owned/maintained by the Detroit International Bridge Company and Canadian Transit Company.  The private ownership of the Ambassador Bridge has been contentious which is a far longer story than I'm willing to go into in a blog post.

My approach to the Ambassador Bridge was from King's Highway 3 on Church Huron Road from King's Highway 401.




Traffic on the Ambassador Bridge is directed to stay on KH 3.


At College Avenue the westbound approach for the Ambassador Bridge begins.


Traffic onto the Ambassador Bridge is routed around the Canadian Customs Station.






The Ambassador Bridge begins to climb over the Detroit River.  Both support spans display a large sign stating "Ambassador Bridge."








From the central span of the Ambassador Bridge heading westbound the skyline of downtown Detroit can be seen.


The Ambassador Bridge crosses over the Detroit River into the City of Detroit.








Cars are directed to stay left approaching the U.S. Customs Station.  Approaching the Custom Station the Michigan Central Station can be seen off the to the right.





As of September 2012 the Ambassador Bridge directly accesses I-75 and I-96.


Originally the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit was accessed from Porter Street between 21st and 22nd Streets.  The original access configuration of the Ambassador Bridge can been seen on this 1956 Rand McNally map of downtown Detroit.

1956 Downtown Detroit Highway Map

I don't have a ton of pictures of the Ambassador Bridge but for what it's worth this one is from Belle Isle in 2015 during a rain storm.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...