Energy for turning the unused roadway on the old U.S. 80 bridge across the Mississippi River into a pedestrian walkway and bicycle path has sparked anew, as local government and tourism signed onto a plea for renewed conversation on the storied topic.

Warren County Board President Bill Lauderdale on Monday signed a letter from Friends of the Vicksburg Bridge to Kansas City Southern Railroad after board members gave it tacit approval. The copy he signed bore the signatures of Mayor George Flaggs Jr., Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce advisory board president Don Brown and Vicksburg Convention and Visitor’s Bureau executive director Bill Seratt.

The letter reminds the railroad Warren County owns the bridge and events are already held on the bridge, provided groups supply liability insurance.

“Opening the bridge to pedestrian and cyclist traffic on a daily basis would create a tremendous economic boost and a significant improvement in the quality of life for our community,” read part of the letter, written on letterhead with the address of 901 Belmont St., part of which is a law office for attorney Buddy Dees. The letter is addressed to Warren Erdman, executive vice president of corporate affairs for KCS, and asks to meet with company brass sometime in October. Arrangement of a date and time is referred to Dees in the letter.

The 1.6-mile, 84-year-old structure owned by Warren County and managed by the five-member Vicksburg Bridge Commission closed to vehicles in 1998 over safety concerns, but the driving surface has become a popular place in the past four years for special events in addition to the Over The River Run, which began in 1989. That list includes 5K walks, the Bricks and Spokes ride to promote downtown, and, from 2009-13, a breast cancer benefit featuring bras strung along the old road’s railing. On Saturday, wheelchair bikers and bicyclists will take to the old bridge for a “Walk, Roll and Stroll” benefit for Living Independence for Everyone, a Jackson-based charity for the disabled.

Two efforts since 1998 to fund a bicycle park on the old bridge in Vicksburg with federal highway money have petered out due to vehement opposition from Kansas City Southern Railroad citing safety as a reason. The most recent was in 2006, when KCS opposed it in writing to state and federal legislators from Vicksburg, the Mississippi Department of Transportation and then-Gov. Haley Barbour. A coalition of local government and tourism promotion entities had applied for grant money via MDOT to finance the project.

A report in July by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District and a handful of conservation groups said more biking trails across and along the river would spur economies and improve public health in the river region.