The walking bridge design was selected from three options after three months of community, stakeholder and government engagement, the release said. Forty-eight percent of more than 500 public votes were cast for the winning design.

The paths will be 10 feet wide, with arched sides ranging 33 feet above the road, the release said. The bridges will be made of concrete with bronze-finished steel arches, metal alloy railings and LED lighting. They will accommodate cyclists and those on foot.

"This project is good for the Detroit community, our economy and for the countless people who are going to use this new pedestrian bridge, and bridges, to get where they need to go," Whitmer said during the event.

She called the Gordie Howe bridge "critical" to strengthening infrastructure in the state and said she supports it because it is putting helping people "first."

State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, said those in southwest Detroit have been advocating for benefits along with this bridge for more than a decade.

"Residents in this community have needed better connectivity across 75," Chang said at the event.

The pedestrian bridges will link residents north of I-75 with the CHASS Center for community health south of the highway, she said.

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the organization overseeing the lengthy process to design, build, finance and operate the six-lane, cable-stayed bridge, and Bridging North America also gave an update on construction, which is underway on both sides of the Detroit River.

Recent work on the Detroit side has included demolishing three bridges over I-75, ground preparation and tower foundation work, Aaron Epstein, CEO of Bridging North America, said Thursday. Epstein would not provide the cost of the pedestrian bridges.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, its customs plazas and highway connections are expected to cost $2.9 billion to construct, with an additional $1.5 billion in operating costs over 30 years through the contract Bridging North America inked with the bridge authority last fall. The Canadian government pledged to finance the bridge after years of efforts to secure state or federal funding failed to gain any traction in Lansing and Washington, D.C.

Officials estimate the bridge will open to traffic by November 2024. The process has seen significant delays: a 2020 opening was originally anticipated.

The bulk of the thousands of jobs promised during construction will come between 2021 and 2023, Epstein said.