Will Nicaragua have a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?

From a story in the Wall Street Journal:

Nicaragua's legislators gave their poverty-stricken country one more chance at a dream that has eluded it for nearly 200 years, granting a Hong Kong company the right to build a $40 billion interoceanic canal...

The project envisions building a canal as long as 286 kilometers (178 miles), depending on which of four possible routes is used, as well as two deep-water ports, two free-trade zones, an oil pipeline, a railroad and an international airport...

Some experts say there is no need for another canal in Central America and doubt it will ever be built. A Nicaraguan canal would face competition from the Panama Canal—now undergoing a $5 billion expansion that will soon enable it to service larger ships—and transcontinental road and rail transport in the U.S...

In 1902, Nicaragua missed out when the proponent for the rival Panama project sent U.S. senators a stamp showing Nicaragua's Momotombo volcano spouting smoke. Spooked senators cast their vote for Panama.

Map via a BBC article.