MKT Bridge at Boonville: Work going forward to make the bridge part of the Katy Trail State Park
An update from Dec 2012 on the MKT Bridge at Boonville--an issue we've been following for nearly a decade now, finally nearing a happy conclusion:
That's likely to change beginning next year. The Boonville City Council will vote Jan. 7 on an agreement transferring ownership of the bridge from Union Pacific Railroad to the city. And the Missouri Department of Transportation is waiting on final federal paperwork to announce a $437,119 grant to cover two-thirds of the cost of the first phase of a project to make the bridge part of the Katy Trail State Park. . . .
MKT Bridge at Boonville will soon be part of the Katy Trail State Park systemIn 2005, a legal battle over the bridge began when then-Gov. Matt Blunt sought to allow Union Pacific to remove it so parts of it could be used in a bridge over the Osage River. Then-Attorney General Jay Nixon challenged the decision in court, claiming that the bridge was an integral part of the trail corridor transferred to the state. While the courts disagreed, the action delayed removal of the bridge until Nixon became governor. He allocated federal stimulus money for a new bridge over the Osage River and in 2010 announced that the Boonville bridge would remain in place.
The Save the Katy Bridge Coalition has raised more than $400,000 for restoring the bridge, said Paula Shannon, chairwoman of the coalition's steering committee. The city will use money allocated for riverfront improvements to match the grant from MoDOT, she said.
The first phase of work will reopen the south section of the bridge by replacing the approach span and putting a new deck on the bridge up to the lift tower. The lift span is still functional and will be moved to the down position for regular trail uses and raised when necessary, she said.
"What we feel by doing the south end first, we can get people out to get them above the water," Shannon said. "It is so peaceful down there. There just isn't anything but the noise of the water."
"I am just thrilled to pieces," Mayor Julie Thacher said of the progress being made after years of legal battles and haggling over details of the transfer. "That is just really, really going to get the first phase going."
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