Lawmaker asks attorney general for bridge ownership opinion

BISMARCK, N.D. – A Democratic lawmaker from Bismarck is asking the attorney general to determine whether the state owns a railroad bridge.

Sen. Tracy Potter requested an opinion from the attorney general’s office on Monday on who owns the Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge.

Nonprofit group Friends of the Rail Bridge wants to stop BNSF Railway from demolishing the 139-year-old bridge to clear the way for a new one.

The group and the railroad signed a deal early last year outlining paths to keeping or removing the bridge but the group feels a state ownership determination would help its cause.