Columbia proposes railbanking of 2.5 miles of COLT Railroad through city - open house Feb 12th | City of Columbia, MO

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The City of Columbia is seeking community input regarding the proposed railbanking of the COLT Railroad from Rogers St. to East Brown Station Rd. The City of Columbia has owned and operated the COLT Railway from downtown Columbia to Centralia since 1987. Businesses along the 2.5-mile section of track from Rogers St. to East Brown Station Rd. have not used rail service for years. Railbanking is a process established by the federal government in 1983 to preserve out-of-service rail corridors and infrastructure for future reactivation. Please review the COLT Proposed Railbanking Fact Sheet in the documents section for additional information.

Please join us for one of the Open House meetings at City Hall, 701 E. Broadway, to learn more and share your thoughts. These will be held on Thursday, Feb. 12, from noon - 1 pm and 4:30 - 6:30 pm. in Conference Room 1A/1B.

Feedback will also be taken on this page through March 10. Following this, City staff will provide presentations to the appropriate City Boards and Commissions. They also will give a report to City Council, and there will be a public hearing at a City Council meeting. Dates for these are not finalized yet, but will be posted here once confirmed.

Link: 

Columbia proposes railbanking of 2.5 miles of COLT Railroad through city - open house Feb 12th | City of Columbia, MO

MoBikeFed comment: Railbanking this segment of the COLT right-of-way would open up the possibility of building a trail along the right of way.

The page for public comments is here: https://beheard.como.gov/colt-railroad-railbanking

The city also owns an additional approx. 19 mile section of the COLT that runs from northern Columbia northeastward through Hallsville to Centralia. This section is still used for shipping, though presumably it may be available as a rail-trail opportunity as well, some time in the future.

https://www.como.gov/utilities/columbia-colt-railroad/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Terminal_Railroad