An Alternate ATV Strategy

ATV use on county roads could be bad news for some residents and I have a couple of proposals to eliminate the problem.

I think a few of us might be in for some unpleasant surprises in the future if the county ATV ordinance comes to pass. Imagine a young family living out near Pike Lake, or up the Caribou Trail or Sawbill trail, or any of the county roads for that matter.

Families might have two people working different schedules, both driving to a town or work. The children will be taking the school bus twice a day during the school year, but there are still after school things that require extra trips. When school isn't in session, extra trips are required to get the kids to friends, the pool, special events, etc.

My point is that most of us who live out of town spend a lot of time driving to and from town. It is unfortunately part of our lifestyle. Now imagine that this ATV ordinance goes through. We will be facing groups of ATV riders on our county roads traveling at no more that 30 MPH. There could be a lot of groups and they could travel in packs of up to a dozen machines. Passing these groups could be a dangerous proposition due to lack of visibility on many of our roads, or oncoming traffic.

Think of this over and over as you go about your busy life driving to work or hauling your children. Most county gravel roads can accommodate vehicle traffic at up to 50 MPH safely and the black top sections 55 or 60 MPH. Now we will all be forced to slow to 30 MPH, perhaps more than anybody realizes. (I know the ATV clubs says this is just for the locals but they want this to pass for their own selfish reasons and don't want to explore the consequences.)

Of course this bodes well for some of the business community who will love the extra business that these out of town ATV riders will bring. Other businesses that cater to a different type of outdoor enthusiasts will see business decline due to the turn off factor of seeing these machines buzzing around which destroys the esthetics of the region.

Imagine if you live on a county road that becomes a connection to a larger trail system up over the hill. The ATV traffic on these stretches is hard to predict. The business people in Tofte want the Sawbill Trail to provide this connection. Prepare to waste a lot of time following ATV dust and plan a little extra time to get to town.

Now I have an answer on how to accommodate the ATV community. Why not build hard surface trails along side the roads like they are doing for bicycles along highway 61. The only reason I can think that this can't be done is that the majority of the Minnesota population support bike riders and don't support ATV use.

Another solution would be for ATV users to learn how to balance and take up riding motorcycles.

This ordinance is a bad idea and has wasted a lot of time and energy and I can't believe the county is even entertaining the idea. It is going to detract from the quality of life for many of us, and we vote.

Pike Lake Jake