Comment Period Ended On Bismarck-Mandan Railroad Bridge

According to the Bismarck Tribune, The public comment period has come to an end. The United States Coast Guard was taking public comments but that has come to an end. They were taking the comments from “affected federal, state, and local agencies, any affected Indian tribes and other interested persons.” They were also taking an enviromental impact on what kind of damages it will create with demolishing BNSF's bridge.

A group Friends of the Rail Bridge are opposed to demolishing the 137 year old bridge. Many people would like to see the bridge get turned into a walking path across the Missouri River. According to NDSU’s Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture it would cost $6.9 million to convert it to a pedestrian bridge.

Tn 2019, the railroad bridge made the Nation Trust for Historic Preservation's “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.” The bridge was built in 1883 for Northern Pacific Railway and the spans were replaced in 1905.

BNSF said they need the bridge replaced in order to keep moving North Dakota farm commodities, coal and other items. What are your thoughts? Should we demolish the bridge or convert it to a pedestrian bridge?