Anoka County is suing the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) over funding for a planned pedestrian bridge spanning the Rum River.

More than $6 million was diverted from the county to the City of Anoka through a 139-page omnibus transportation bill passed by the Legislature in June. The county planned to use the money for trail improvements and park upgrades elsewhere, while the city intends to put it toward infrastructure for a whitewater surf park on the river, according to the lawsuit filed last month.

Anoka County claims that the pedestrian bridge is the first phase of "a dubious boondoggle of a plan" for the $51 million Rum River Dam project, which seeks to expand a regional trail system via the new pedestrian bridge in downtown Anoka.

“Anoka County will be irreparably h

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