TORONTO -- Work should begin immediately on improvements to the Windsor-Detroit border crossing proposed in a nine-point plan and supported by the Ontario and federal governments, DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc. president Ed Brust says.

Improvements to the main artery that's clogged the Highway 3-Huron Church Road approach to the Ambassador Bridge should go ahead as soon as possible, followed by an upgrade of the E.C. Row Expressway and an extension of the Lauzon Parkway to Highway 401, Mr. Brust said yesterday.

His public support of the changes comes after months of opposition by Windsor city councillors to the plan, which was developed by Mayor Mike Hurst, who will leave office at the end of the month. It also comes amid strong condemnation of the proposal by community groups in Windsor. A key opponent of the plan to widen E.C. Row was elected to city council earlier this month.

Nonetheless, Mr. Brust said improving the crossing is too important to the health of the auto industry in particular and Ontario in general to continue dithering.

"At DaimlerChrysler Canada, we see the importance of the border crossing daily," he told an audience of auto parts industry officials gathered for the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada's annual outlook conference in Toronto.

About 1,400 trailer loads a day cross the Detroit River carrying parts for DaimlerChrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant or DaimlerChrysler vehicles.

"The border cannot continue to be an uncertainty, which is basically an excess cost in the minds of decision makers," Mr. Brust said. In addition to the assembly plant, DaimlerChrysler also has its head office in Windsor.

He met with Windsor's new Mayor, Eddie Francis, the day after Mr. Francis was elected. "I told him doing nothing is not a solution."

His view was backed by Gerry Fedchun, president of the APMA, who said auto makers and the auto parts industry need to mount "a full-court press" on governments to get the border fixed.

Fixing the Huron Church Road approach to the Ambassador Bridge -- which is where the vast majority of the thousands of trucks that cross the border at Windsor go every day -- and the other elements of the nine-point plan are just the beginning of what's needed, auto industry officials have said.

They also want work to be accelerated on developing another crossing, in part to handle growth expected in the next 10 to 15 years and in part because the environmental assessment process takes several years.

Adding two lanes to E.C. Row and extending Lauzon Parkway to Highway 401 lays the groundwork for any of the three options for a future crossing. Those are twinning the Ambassador Bridge, the Mich-Can proposal, which suggests building a new bridge southwest of the current bridge, and the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership, which envisages a dedicated truck route from Highway 401 to an existing and upgraded rail tunnel under the Detroit River.

Another separate proposal put forward by Border Gateways Inc. is for a truck-processing centre on Highway 401 a few kilometres from Windsor that would clear trucks destined for the United States not already precleared under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) system that allows qualified trucks to move more quickly through U.S. Customs.

Such a processing centre could be up and running in 10 months, Border Gateways spokesman Bert Serre said yesterday.

Mr. Brust said he has urged his colleagues on the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council to make their voices heard on the issue. He is the chairman of the trade and infrastructure subcommittee of the joint government-industry advisory board.

"Our job is to grow Canada," he said. "To do that, we need to change what's going on every day at the border."