2nd Katy Bridge at Boonville suit dismissed

According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article:

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by an environmental group that had sought to save an old Missouri River railroad bridge as a potential part of the Katy Trail State Park.

The ruling Tuesday by Cole County Judge Byron Kinder follows his April ruling against Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon in a similar lawsuit. The lawsuits claimed, among other things, that the state had a property interest in the bridge that could not legally be relinquished by Republican Gov. Matt Blunt's administration.

But Kinder ruled in Nixon's case that the Department of Natural Resources had no property interest in or current contract rights to the Boonville bridge. Nixon has appealed that decision to the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

Union Pacific Railroad Co., the bridge's current owner, wants to dismantle the unused bridge and reuse its steel for a new bridge over the Osage River east of Jefferson City. Blunt's administration supports that move. . . .

The dismissal was welcomed by the environmental center, which said it planned to appeal just as Nixon did.

"Our case is sitting there, languishing and it's not going anywhere," said Great Rivers attorney Bruce Morrison. "This is a chance to get it moving again."

Among the others suing the state to leave the bridge in place is Pat Jones, who with her husband Ted Jones gave the donation that allowed the Katy Trail to be created.

This issue is more important than simply the fate of this bridge--removal of the bridge will affect the legal status of an approximately 160-mile segment of the Katy Trail.