KBIA Local
(2005-05-19)
COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
Attorney General Jay Nixon is joining the fight to save the 72-year-old liftspan bridge in Boonville. Nixon says he will use whatever legal means necessary to save the structure, because of its importance historically as well as for future economic growth of the area. Last month, Governor Blunt and the DNR said they would relinquish rights of the bridge to Union Pacific, which plans to demolish the bridge. Nixon says it wasn't their decision to make."When you have the Department of Natural Rsources dramatically, without checking with us, or legally reviewing it with us ... the governor picking up the phone and calling the mayor of Boonville saying they're going to give away a valuable asset that the city is trying to redevelop, that raised my level of concern."
But DNR Director Doyle Childers says Nixon lacks an understanding of the state's budget challenges ... and says fixing the bridge will cost the state 3 to 5 million dollars up front. He adds, taxpayers have already paid for putting another lane on the Boonville highway bridge and should not pay for a second passage of the trail. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
