Converting Railroad Bridge into Pedestrian Bridge Feasible but Expensive

The report concluded that repurposing the bridge would cost almost $6.9 million.

BISMARCK, N.D.– A study finds that converting a historic North Dakota railroad bridge into a pedestrian bridge can be done but it would be expensive.

Landscape architecture professors at North Dakota State University looked at repurposing the Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge as a footbridge. The Bismarck Tribune reports the report concluded that would cost almost $6.9 million.

Proponents of saving the structure acknowledge that they don’t yet have any funding commitments.

Bridge owner BNSF Railway maintains that converting the 136-year-old bridge-rather than demolishing it-would delay a needed new bridge and also cause safety concerns.

The bridge over the Missouri River connects Bismarck and Mandan. Friends of the Rail Bridge are proposing to convert the bridge into a pedestrian and bicycle path.