June 26, 2017 at 3:56 p.m.
Oneida County opens stretches of county highways to ATVs
Oneida County opens stretches of county highways to ATVs
Last Thursday, the county's Public Works/Highway and Solid Waste Committee granted the Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz ATV Club's request for access to stretches of county highways C and W in Pine Lake and highways G and P in Pelican.
The club's requests were approved by the respective town boards and all prerequisites had been met, meaning the only remaining hurdle was county approval.
The Pine Lake board approved ATV usage on a 2.11-mile stretch of Highway W from River Road to State Highway 17. The speed limit ranges from 25 to 45 miles per hour.
"My concern from River Road northeast is the traffic count is very high," highway commissioner Bruce Stefonek said. "The road has very narrow shoulders and it's hills and corners. It's a very large concern of mine and I don't feel it should be opened up at that portion."
Stefonek expressed other concerns such as the fact that insurance is not required to drive an ATV, although he admitted most ATV enthusiasts have insurance, and a driving while intoxicated charge on an ATV does not count toward an individual's driver's license unless that person holds a commercial license.
Supervisors Robb Jensen and Scott Holewinski spoke in support of the club's requests, noting that Pel-Cho had completed the required steps.
Gene Dallman of the Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz group played the role of devil's advocate when the discussion turned to opening highways to ATVs rather than staying on town roads.
"If you get into some of these areas, a lot of people, if they have to jump on a county road just to go a quarter of a mile to get to the next access point, they'll ride it illegally before going the five miles around to make it legal," Dallman said. "If you open up that half a mile, sometimes it's safer than an ATV jumping on there and jumping up to 60 miles per hour to get across there before he gets caught by a cop."
The town board approved opening a 3.9-mile stretch of County Highway C, from North Faust Road to Liberalist Road, to ATVs.
The committee had previously approved ATV access to a different stretch of the highway and the new stretch was approved Thursday.
The proposed portion of Highway G in Pelican was the longest requested, at 6.25 miles. The speed limit will be 55 miles per hour. Finally, the committee agreed to open 1.7 miles of County P to ATVs.
Club members have argued that opening up the highways to ATV could bring in additional revenue for local businesses.
"An interesting study was done in Jackson County," Gary Dominski of Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz said. "An independent study they had solicited and they attributed about $8.5 million to ATV traffic."
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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