After decades of presuming it already owned Rockford Beach Road, Jefferson County has finally taken the necessary steps to take over the road from the Missouri Department of Transportation.
The Jefferson County Council voted 6-0 on Aug. 11 to approve the acquisition of the road.
Councilman Billy Crow (District 2, Arnold) was absent from the meeting.
The 700-foot road extends from Hwy. W to the Big River, connecting motorists with Rockford Park in House Springs. Old maps indicate Rockford Beach Road once was part of Hwy. W at one point, said Tim Pigg, the county’s Parks and Recreation director.
Pigg said he discovered that MoDOT actually owned the road when he decided to have an automatic gate installed at the entrance to Rockford Park.
“(The road) had never been transferred to the parks department, and I didn’t know that until I started looking into putting in an automated gate up there,” Pigg said. “I’m sure MoDOT wouldn’t have minded too much, but I wanted to make sure – if you want to build something on someone else’s property, that can always cause issues.”
The automated gate was supposed to be installed at the park late last summer to keep out park visitors after hours, but the installation was postponed while the county took the necessary steps to assume ownership of the road.
Now that the county owns the road, Pigg said the gate should be installed by the end of the month.
The county bought the gate for $54,415 from Kendall LLC in St. Louis, and parks department staff members will install it.
“The entryway (at Rockford Park) was under the auspices of MoDOT,” Pigg said.
He said the county must pay MoDOT no more than $1 to take ownership of the road.
MoDOT will continue to have a right-of-way, extending 100 feet down Rockford Beach Road from the center line of Hwy. W. The county will own the rest of the approximately 600 feet of road.
Pigg said there are no plans yet for maintenance of the road, which is a mixture of asphalt and gravel.