Boonville Bridge subject of further controversy

According to the Columbia Tribune:

The old Boonville railroad bridge, also known as the Katy Bridge, is embroiled in yet another legal battle.

A St. Louis environmental law firm this week alleged the Coast Guard tried to skirt historic preservation requirements when issuing a bridge permit to Union Pacific Railroad.

Lawsuits over the ownership of the bridge have been passing through Missouri courts for years. In February, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld an appeals court ruling that the state has no property right to the bridge, leaving Union Pacific Railroad Co. free to dismantle it and use parts of it for a new bridge over the Osage River.

Katy Trail advocates and some Boonville leaders want the bridge preserved for use as a pedestrian bridge across the Missouri River.

Now Great Rivers Environmental Law Firm is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the Coast Guard’s actions in connection with a permit it issued to the railroad to build the Osage bridge.

Perhaps the ideal solution to the Boonville Bridge issue would allow the legal situation involving 160 miles of the Katy Trail to have a positive resolution, allow the Boonville area community use of the "lift span" as a tourist attraction and potential Katy Trail river crossing, and allow Union Pacific to use some of the currently un-used bridge spans to improve rail traffic on other routes where it is currently bottlenecked.

Could our elected officials have the leadership and foresight to work out a positive "win/win" solution like that? It's always possible . . .