10/01/2008

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER  / Associated Press

Supporters of a railroad bridge near the Katy Trail slated for removal came to a public hearing Tuesday night hoping to persuade the U.S. Coast Guard to save the historic span.

They quickly learned that the structure's fate rests not with the federal agency but instead with its owner, Union Pacific, which wants to dismantle the drawbridge and use its steel spans in a new bridge over the Osage River near Jefferson City to ease rail traffic.

"All these ideas that (have been) presented are really nice if you are the bridge owner," said Roger Wiebusch, a Coast Guard bridge administrator. "The railroad has its own vision about what they want to do with the bridge."

A group of Boonville residents and historic preservationists want to buy the bridge for possible inclusion in the nearby Katy Trail State Park but have yet to raise enough money. Attorney General Jay Nixon previously sued the state Department of Natural Resources to block the bridge removal, but that effort failed in court.

Nearly 100 people attended the meeting at the Isle of Capri casino, which sits in the shadow of the bridge — unused since 1986 — over the Missouri River. Several offered passionate pleas to save the bridge, which they envision as a potential tourist attraction and educational site that could be reconfigured as a pedestrian walkway.

"There are not too many functioning time machines out there," said Rocheport Mayor Brett Dufur, a travel writer whose books include a Katy Trail guide. "Seeing that old Boonville bridge out there connects visitors to a sense of place."

The first bridge on the site dates to 1874. The structure was replaced and improved several times before the current bridge was built in 1932. The Coast Guard considers unused bridges to be navigational obstructions and first directed Union Pacific to remove the Boonville span 17 years ago.

Prompted by audience questions, Union Pacific attorney Roy Farwell said the company remains "willing to sell if we are fairly compensated."

A Union Pacific spokesman later said the company would require an estimated $5 million to $10 million to ditch the Osage project — depending on the amount of the bridge removed — and instead sell the Missouri River span to the city of Boonville. For a city with an annual budget of $14 million, that's a sizable expense.

"Negotiations remain open," Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis told The Associated Press. "Nothing has been decided."

Barring any potential purchase, the railroad hopes to receive the required federal permit by December. Removal of the bridge could begin by early 2009, Davis said.

Several speakers suggested that the Coast Guard should refrain from its decision until after the November election, when Missouri voters will elect a new governor. Outgoing Gov. Matt Blunt's support of Union Pacific's proposal led to the lawsuit against DNR by Nixon, his political opponent.

Nixon, a Democrat, faces Republican Kenny Hulshof in the Nov. 4 election. Blunt is stepping down after one term in office.

"These negotiations can and will happen anew," said Dave Angell of Columbia. "We've got a new decision-making group coming into the executive branch. ... You should wait for that to happen."

Such a change in Jefferson City is immaterial, Wiebusch later responded.

"We don't care who the administration is," he said. "It just doesn't matter to us."