At more than 70 years old, the Stillwater Lift Bridge continues to bridge the gap between Minnesota and Western Wisconsin for more than 20,000 drivers daily. The historic Lift Bridge is an architectural landmark, a landmark that adds to the charm of the region. However, traffic snarls downtown and the steel is rusting.

As commuters were reminded earlier this month, the bridge is prone to costly and frequent closures due to flooding, vehicle incidents and required repairs. Unfortunately, its replacement, which has been talked about since the 1950s, hit its most recent speed bump - a hazard engineered by the Sierra Club.

On March 11, the U.S. District Court of Appeals halted progress toward building a new Stillwater bridge by ruling in favor of a Sierra Club lawsuit that sought to defeat the project.

Judge Michael Davis ruled that the National Parks Service had not clearly stated why it changed its assessment of the bridge project between a 1996 evaluation of the project and the next evaluation in 2005. In 1996, the service claimed that the bridge would be detrimental to the scenic qualities of the river, and said the project needed to be overhauled. However in 2005, with a new project that would have meant construction of a larger bridge, the NPS said the project would hurt the scenic quality of the river but that it was acceptable.

The judge concluded that the change in the NPS's opinion was the hallmark of arbitrary and capricious decision-making, noting that there was no reason given for the about-face. According to the court, it seems the NPS does not have the right to reevaluate changing circumstances and change its mind.

Following the ruling, Sierra Club North Star chapter spokesman Jim Rickard said the Sierra Club is not opposed to a new bridge in principle, just the four-lane structure proposed by the Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments.

Construction of a new bridge is a necessity - the current structure is antiquated and repair costs are outrageous. The Sierra Club and other obstructionists that have thrown a proverbial wrench into the process over the decades have done nothing more than delay any real solution.

Their nuisance lawsuits threaten the safety of drivers as the bridge falls further into disrepair, and drives the cost of a new bridge higher and higher. The most recent cost estimates for the new bridge are put at nearly $700 million, up by hundreds of millions since it was first proposed half a century ago. For every month that a new bridge is delayed the price tag increases by more than $1 million. A skyrocketing tab that taxpayers will be left to pay when a new bridge is inevitably built.

The situation begs the question as to why the Sierra Club shouldn't be required to post some type of surety bond during litigation to protect the taxpayers from the ever-growing cost of constructing a bridge, a cost that will only escalate for as long as the plaintiffs decide to stall the project.

Even if you aren't persuaded by the dollars and sense argument, safety ought to be a paramount concern for everyone. The Lift Bridge was deemed "structurally deficient" during its last inspection in 2008, receiving a sufficiency rating of only 32.8 on a 100-point scale. By comparison, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, another fracture critical bridge which collapsed on August 1, 2007, received a sufficiency rating of 50 before it plunged into the river, killing 13 and injuring dozens.

How long will the courts allow the Sierra Club to postpone the construction of a critical transportation artery? This is not an issue of concern about the ecosystem or protection of the environment. This is about "scenic quality."

It's time for Congress to act. We all remember when Congress found funding for a bridge to "nowhere;" it shouldn't be too much to ask to fund a bridge to somewhere, specifically Stillwater.

It's time for action before another tragedy.