Missouri Bicycle News

The Kansas City Star posted an AP article about the ruling today against retaining the MKT bridge at Boonville:

A judge ruled Monday for Gov. Matt Blunt's administration in a dispute with Attorney General Jay Nixon over the fate of an old Katy Railroad bridge.

The attorney general's office sued the Department of Natural Resources last year over its decision to give up the state's interest in using the old bridge as part of the Katy Trail State Park. Union Pacific Railroad Co. wants to dismantle the bridge and use the steel elsewhere.

A 1987 purchase agreement for old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line allowed DNR to also eventually use the Missouri River bridge as part of the bicycle and pedestrian trail - so long as DNR assumed liability for the bridge on terms acceptable to the railroad.

The state and railroad contend Missouri has no property right to the bridge, and Cole County Senior Judge Byron Kinder agreed. The attorney general's office argued that the ability to someday use the bridge equaled a property interest.

The article indicates that the attorney general will likely appeal the ruling.

More details about the ruling and comments by the judge and others are on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch web site.

The bridge has been subject of a long-running dispute. Local officials want to retain the bridge as a tourist attraction. Trail advocates, based on research done for DNR by a prominent rail-trails attorney, fear that removing the bridge will endanger the legal status of the remaining sections of the Katy Trail. Railroad officials want to move the bridge to a different location where it will ease railroad traffic on an active line.

With the help of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, the Missouri Bicycle Federation filed a Friend of the Court brief in this case representing the interests of Katy Trail users--a viewpoint that was not necessarily represented by either side of the court case. Pat Jones, who together with her husband Ted Jones gave the donation that originally funded the construction of the Katy Trail, also filed a friend of the court brief in the case.

Related:

News: Attorney General appeals Boonville MKT Bridge ruling

News: 1 of 2 MKT Bridge lawsuits dismissed

permanent link to article: "Judge rules against retaining MKT bridge at Boonville"
posted by Brent Hugh at 4/24/2006 03:26:00 PM |comment on this article