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A 2020 completion date for the Gordie Howe International Bridge is looking increasingly doubtful as challenges persist in getting the multibillion-dollar crossing between Windsor and Detroit to the next stage.

The biggest hurdle? About 30 properties needed for the new crossing on the U.S. side — 20 of them belonging to Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun — but considered “problematic” to acquire, according to Dwight Duncan, interim chairman of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

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“I won’t be held to a date,” he told the Star on Friday, the first time he has addressed the delay.

Duncan said a request for proposals to be issued to three short-listed international consortia is “ready to go” but that the 3,000-page document won’t be sent out until the bridge authority is confident all the potential risks have been mitigated.

The government-appointed bridge authority has received legal advice from both sides of the border and is confident “we’ll get access to these properties,” he said. The risky part is how long it could take if there’s resistance and the matter has to be fought out in court.