The multi-use path on the Gordie Howe International Bridge doesn’t open until 8 a.m. on Wednesday. But one man has been waiting at the gate since early Tuesday morning.
Justin Bellemore arrived at the bridge at 4 a.m., he said, equipped with a lawn chair, a yoga mat to sleep on, a towel, a collection of snacks, an umbrella for shade and some water and Gatorade.
“I’ve just been telling everyone for years that I wanted to be, like, the first one to cycle across the Gordie Howe once this multi-use trail opened,” Bellemore told CBC.
“So [I’ve] got to be a man of my word. And yeah, it kind of started as a joke, but here we are.”
The opening of the multi-use path on the bridge has been eagerly anticipated by many cyclists and pedestrians.
While a pedestrian path was part of the design of the 97-year-old Ambassador Bridge, the path was permanently shut after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The new bridge features security cameras throughout the site, concrete barriers separating path users from motor vehicles and unclimbable fencing on both sides of the bridge, according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority’s website.
Bellemore, a mechanical engineer with Stellantis in Auburn Hills, Mich., said he was questioned by security when he arrived at the bridge, but they eventually left him alone.
He tried to sleep, he said, but there was too much light and commotion.
He was hoping to catch some shuteye on Tuesday night, using his towel as a pillow. But he said there may be too many people around, and they might all get chatting.
“I can pull one all-nighter, you know, and send it across and then be good, I think,” he said.
Bellemore has been passing his time at the path entrance catching up on social media, he said, and he hopes to use some of his time there to plan his week and do some journaling.
His father has been coming to relieve him for a few minutes periodically so he can go to the bathroom.
His dad will also play a role in the crossing itself, he added.
Bellemore asked him to come by at around 6 a.m. or 7 to pick up his stuff so he can travel on the path with nothing but his bike, his travel documents and his wallet.
When he gets to the other side, he expects to kill time in a cafe while he waits for the line-up to get back across to die down.
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“Or,” he said, “it might just be calling my dad to pick me up.”
Bellemore said he’s disappointed that the path isn’t open 24/7 because it makes it hard for people to cross the bridge for dinner or a sports game and make it back before it closes.
“Hopefully eventually they expand that.”
