Do you own land along the future Rock Island Rail Trail extension?
YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Contact us for a free case evaluation.
HISTORY OF THE ROCK ISLAND TRAIL CONVERSION
Years ago the Missouri Central Railroad abandoned 144 miles of railroad corridor in Cass, Pettis, Benton, Morgan, Miller, Cole, Osage & Maris Counties. The Surface and Transportation Board (“STB”), the governmental entity that regulates railroads, issued what is called a Notice of Interim Trail Use (“NITU”) on February 26, 2015. The issuance of the NITU blocked the formal abandonment of the railroad and blocked the land from reverting back to the adjacent landowners. Instead of allowing the railroad’s easement to extinguish such that the land would return to the adjacent landowners, the NITU allowed the easement to be transferred to a public group for a non-railroad public use - a nature and hiking trail.
When railroads under federal jurisdiction express interest to abandon their lines, a trails group may step in to make an offer to purchase the land and convert the railroad corridor to a rail-trail. The process of converting inactive railroad corridors to recreational trails and keeping the corridor intact for future rail use is called “railbanking”.
Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc. stepped in and spearheaded the project to preserve the Rock Island corridor, railbank the line, and create a linear park.
Stewart, Wald & McCulley represents landowners in the original 144 mile rail-trail case. Many of these landowners have reached a settlement agreement with the government and will be paid their compensation. It is our belief that you should be compensated as well.
Now,
V & S Railway, a railway company affiliated with Missouri Central has filed various documents with the STB indicating abandonment of the railroad line from Beaufort to Union, Missouri. Within their filings V & S specifically states they understand Missouri Department of Natural Resources ("DNR") is interested in the subject line for potential trial use. You may review each of these filings below.
Map of abandonment from Beaufort to Union Missouri provided in Surface Transportation Board Filings
We believe, if you own property adjacent to the railroad corridor from Beaufort to Union you may have a claim for compensation when the railroad corridor is converted to a recreational trail under the Trails Act.
What is the United States Trails Act?
The Trails Act is a federal program that permits the conversion of railroad lines into nature and hiking trails.
Rail-to-trail conversions are only possible thanks to the Trails Act, an act of Congress that allows railroads to offer up their railroad rights-of-way for public recreational hiking and biking use in lieu of abandonment. But what is the National Trails System Act, otherwise known as the Trails Act, and why does it lead to just compensation for landowners?
This guide intends to provide those answers.
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“When I decided to get involved in this litigation I had no idea how many years it would take to complete. However, I am thankful for each and every time I contacted Stewart, Wald & McCulley. They took time to explain all that was going on with the litigation. I do appreciate that my calls were always returned if I left a message. So I say thanks! I’m glad I got involved in this litigation.”
