BISMARCK, N.D. — The group seeking to prevent BNSF Railway from demolishing a 141-year-old bridge over the Missouri River is taking its long-running effort to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that the Friends of the Rail Bridge preservation group, joined by the Downtown Business Association of Bismarck, is seeking to overturn a lower-court ruling that threw out its appeal of two state permits needed by BNSF to replace the current bridge with a new structure [see “Judge dismisses preservation group’s appeal …,” Trains News Wire, June 24, 2023].
While the preservation group says it is not opposed to the new bridge, it wants the existing structure — built by the Northern Pacific, with piers dating to 1882 and a superstructure from 1905 — preserved as a pedestrian and bike path.
South Central District Judge Jackson Lofgren turned down Friends group’s appeal in June on technical reasons, saying the group had failed to comply with state law by not requesting a hearing with the State Water Resources Board after it issued two Sovereign Land Use permits to BNSF. One permit allows construction of the new bridge and one is for demolition of the old structure. The Friends group contended that earlier hearings and public meetings met that state requirement but Lofgren disagreed.
As a result, the case the Friends group has brought to the Supreme Court addresses technicalities, not the questions over ownership of the bridge it has attempted to raise at other stages of its fight [see “North Dakota Attorney General indicates BNSF owns Bismarck bridge,” News Wire, March 6, 2023]
The Tribune, which reviewed a copy of the Friends’ appeal prior to its formal filing, reports it raises two main points: One is that the Department of Water Resources issued the permits without preparing an official record of everything that played a part in its decision, which the group says conflicts with state law. The other is the group believes asking for another Water Resources hearing after the permits were issued would have been “tantamount to admitting” the earlier meetings and hearings “did not exist.” One of the attorneys for the Friends told the newspaper the group believes following the procedure outlined by Lofgren would have meant “starting from scratch.”
BNSF, in a statement to the Tribune, said it will “continue to vigorously defend our ability to construct our privately owned railroad bridge.”
Preliminary work has already begun on the new bridge, which will cost about $100 million and take about three years to build.
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