Michigan is moving closer to increasing its role as an international freight hub -- and adding hundreds of new jobs -- as plans take shape for the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Detroit, said Andrew Doctoroff.

Beyond the economic impact of the bridge, the new span -- expected to open by 2020 -- will symbolize a reawakening of Detroit and Michigan, he said, due to the ability of bridges to define urban landscapes.

Doctoroff, special projects advisor for Gov. Rick Snyder, also is known as "the bridge guy," due to his focus on plans for the 2nd international crossing over the Detroit River.

The $2.1 billion bridge financed by Canada "is moving full speed ahead," said Doctoroff on Wednesday, April 20, during a panel presentation in Lansing coordinated by Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

Doctoroff continued: "More progress can't come too quickly. There are compelling needs for a new crossing."

The six-lane bridge will add to the nearby Ambassador Bridge's four lanes, allowing trucks a streamlined route at the Canadian side and creating more logistics opportunities in both nations due to more direct access to rail, highway and air transportation.

Also included in the project are two state-of-the-art customs centers, with the opportunity to attract more private investment on both sides of the border.

"I believe it can transform the logistics industry in Michigan," Doctoroff said.

Land acquisition in Canada is nearly complete, Doctoroff said. About 130 acres in Windsor, southwest of the Ambassador Bridge, will be used for the largest Canadian Port of Entry along the U.S. border.

On the U.S. side, acquisition is underway for the 300 houses and 45 businesses located within the 145 acres in southwest Detroit that will be used for inspection facilities for both inbound and outbound vehicles at the U.S. Port of Entry.

Also included in the Detroit portion of the project is a new I-75 interchange that will include "four new crossing road bridges, five new pedestrian bridges, four long bridges crossing the railway and connecting I-75 to the US Port of Entry, and service roads and local road improvements," according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

The project also is moving ahead with a Request for Proposals for the design, construction and operations of the bridge. That RFP is being finalized, Doctoroff said, to give the three competing consortium groups announced earlier this year specific information about what the WLBA seeks in the project.

"It's coming soon," Doctoroff said. "We're working on it really hard. It's an uppermost priority."

Among the details to be included in the RFP are the community benefits expected for the Delray neighborhood as the host community for the project.

Zeenat Kotval-Karamchandani, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at Michigan State University, said that while pockets of Detroit are experiencing economic growth, Delray isn't among them.

The area -- about 5 miles southwest of downtown, south of Mexicantown -- is "completely surrounded by industry," she said, but about 2,500 people make it home. And one-third of the households are in poverty.

"Remember it is a residential area," she encouraged. "There are people there."

Meanwhile, the value of freight traveling between the U.S. and Canada fell to $575.2 billion in 2015, a 12.6 percent drop, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. About $69.1 billion came through Michigan, the most of any state.

Data also shows that trucks carried the most freight to and from Canada, at 58.3 percent. Rail accounted for 15.7 percent. The most common freight is auto-related: Vehicles and vehicle parts, according to the DOT.

Other speakers at the MSU IPPSR event were Bill Anderson, political science professor at the University of Windsor, and Roger Hamlin, professor of urban planning and public administration at MSU.

Paula Gardner covers Michigan business for Mlive.com. She can be reached by email or follow her on Twitter.