(Detroit - Noah Ovshinsky, WDET) -  The proposed second bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor has been in limbo in recent months. The legislation that essentially authorizes the project--commonly called the DRIC (Detroit River International Crossing)--is stalled in the state senate. Critics say the bridge is unneeded and too expensive. But in Ontario, the project is moving full steam ahead--even though its U.S. partner has yet to commit.

For a man in charge of the largest single highway project Ontario has ever taken on, Garfield Dales is surprisingly low-key.  Sitting in his Ministry of Transportation issued hybrid vehicle, he literally exudes calm. Even when he talks about trucks--all of which he hopes to get off the local roads.  “All of this stop-and-go traffic, all of these traffic signals where trucks have to stop, gear down and accelerate--that will all be gone," he says.  "This will all be free flow, leading to a new national crossing.”

We’re driving down Huron Church Road which connects Highway 401 with the Ambassador Bridge. This area of roadway sees thousands of trucks a day. It’s also surrounded by subdivisions, malls, and even prairie land.  To ease congestion, while at the same time improving the quality of life, Canada and the province of Ontario are building the Windsor Essex Parkway.

Stopping at one of several Parkway related construction sites, Dales unrolls a detailed blueprint of the project. It clearly shows the new below-ground six-lane highway that will replace much of Huron Church Road. It looks something like the Oakland County stretch of I-696.  Pointing to the diagram, Dales says there’s more.

“Sort of crisscrossing throughout the Parkway is the four-lane service road that runs the length of the Parkway," he says.  "We also have 20 kilometers of recreational trails, and those are the beige lines that you see on the Parkway."

Immediately to the left of Dale’s car is a large structure with cranes, bulldozers and other equipment on its perimeter. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that what we’re looking at is in fact the guts of a modern highway bridge. Peel away the concrete and you're left with rebar, lots and lots of rebar. This is one of two bridges that transportation officials have already begun building at a total cost of around $15 million. These bridges send a signal to the project’s critics that the Parkway is becoming a reality. Dales wouldn’t go that far--but he says they do represent a beginning.  “We had already acquired this property and really saw this as a logical first step for construction on the Parkway, to start on these two bridges.”

The Windsor-Essex Parkway--and indeed the DRIC project as a whole-- is NOT without its critics.  Just last week, the Sierra Club of Canada initiated a court action to stop its construction. The group argues that the project will harm a rare prairie ecosystem and several animal species, including the Massassauga Rattlesnake and the Gray Fox. The Sierra Club is asking a judge to review the decision by the Minister of Natural Resources to allow the project to proceed under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. But the project faces another, perhaps larger, problem. Its partner, Michigan, has yet to sign on the dotted line. The two countries have worked closely on the DRIC project for several years. Canada has even offered to pick up Michigan’s half of the construction bill. But that carrot, so to speak, hasn’t been enough to convince the state Senate to authorize the project. Critics fear Michigan residents will somehow be left paying hundreds of millions of dollars in costs at a time when they can least afford it. Some also argue that declining truck traffic makes a second bridge crossing unnecessary. All this leaves Ontario--and Garfield Dales--in an awkward position.  Asked whether it was risky to start a project without the full backing of its partner, Dales was careful with his response. "I certainly can’t speculate on all of the things that are under way in Michigan," he said.  "We talked about the importance of this project not only for Ontario but for this country and internationally in terms of the volume of trade. Ontario is still proceeding with the Parkway.”

Dales notes that important environmental reviews have already been completed on the U.S. side, and he says that’s a great first step. But Dales concedes that the Parkway and the proposed DRIC project are inseparable.  “We did look at this as a complete end to end solution involving a provincial highway connecting to a plaza connecting to a new bridge crossing and then connecting to the highway system on the Michigan side.”

Driving back toward Windsor on Huron Church Road, it becomes clear how far along Ontario is on the project. Hundreds of properties on either side of the road, including houses and businesses, are vacant. The government has convinced these property owners to sell. The Parkway is being built. The question is where it will ultimately lead--and that decision largely lies in the hands of policy makers in Lansing.