SKOWHEGAN — County commissioners heard from several business owners Wednesday who support opening a portion of Lake Moxie Road in The Forks for all-terrain vehicle traffic, making it easier for ATV drivers to access nearby stores and restaurants.
The proposal, which was submitted by the Lake Moxie ATV Club to the Somerset County Commission in October, seeks permission to open 2.2 miles of the road to shared ATV traffic.
At a public hearing Wednesday, ATV Club President Ben Towle said he spoke on behalf of landowners and campowners along that stretch of road and surrounding areas who want to see the dual use and need help navigating the approval process.
Towle said the request is not meant to encourage ATVs to use Lake Moxie Road instead of the nearby offroad trail system, but to give people who live on the road a shorter route to stores, the gas station and restaurants.
He pointed out that many people are already riding ATVs on the road, which is creating a safety issue because “people are driving faster than they should be so they don’t get caught” driving an ATV on a prohibited road.
“The goal here would be for them to travel with the flow of traffic, not much different than a motorcyclist on the road or a cyclist on the road,” Towle said, although the county might consider reducing the speed limit from 45 miles per hour to 35 mph along some sections.
“We do think it would be a good economic boon for the community to have this traffic,” Towle said. “We want to attract more of that kind of economic development.”
Towle, who owns Maine Lakeside Resort & Event Center in nearby Caratunk, said the county might also consider setting a curfew on ATV use and set a strict trial period to monitor traffic flow and then adjust as needed.
Commissioner Don Skillings asked who makes decisions on speed limits on that road, and Towle said it was the state’s jurisdiction.
Commissioner John Alsop said ATVs often travel at about 15 mph on the side of the road. “What you’re suggesting here is to just get right out in the flow of traffic and go at speed?” he asked.
Towle said that was his suggestion, pointing to state law governing ATV traffic on public ways in Title 12, which gives the county the option to direct ATV traffic to the extreme right of a public way or allow traffic on the public way if it can be done safely and without interfering with the flow of other traffic.
Alsop, who seemed resistant to the idea of fully shared access, said the original idea of ATV use was for people to ride “on a trail and through the woods and enjoy the camaraderie of friends.” There is a trail that runs alongside the road, he pointed out, and while acknowledging people would certainly benefit from access to a better maintained straightaway, if people “are just trying to get into town why don’t they just drive their car?”
Towle explained that Lake Moxie Road connects in multiple places with ATV trails and is well-suited to recreationalists who want to stop for lunch and get right back on the trail.
Justin Stimpson, who lives in The Forks and owns Hawk’s Nest Lodge and Restaurant in West Forks, agreed.
“They’re designing the day’s ride around where they want to have lunch. They want to get home before dark,” he said, and the decision often comes down to “do we want to go to The Forks for lunch or do we want to go to another community where we can get in and out faster.”
Allowing ATV traffic on a portion of Lake Moxie Road would give people the option to get in and out of The Forks faster, he said, boosting the local economy.
Stimpson said portions of the nearby trail are so rough that many people choose to ride to Greenville or somewhere else to avoid The Forks, including some people who live in The Forks.
Commissioners had a lot of questions about whether ATV owners must be insured, the minimum driver age and whether younger ATV riders have to be licensed. Towle acknowledged that an “11-year-old coming down the Moxie Road by themselves is a little problematic,” but if the law is being followed children that age would be supervised by an adult.
“Is one of your arguments that we should do this because people are doing this anyway?” Aslop asked Towle. “Yes,” Towle said, “they’re doing it anyway in an unsafe manner and I think this creates some safeguards.”
Stimpson also pointed out that with less snow during recent winters people are trading in their snowmobiles for ATVs, which many surrounding towns have recognized and have updated road access to accommodate.
“The Forks and West Forks depend on people coming here to stay,” Stimpson said, and “to eat at my restaurant and to pay for lodge rooms. Deciding where they’re going to anchor their weekend trip and where they are going to and from every day.” Without a more welcoming travel path to The Forks, he warned, people will continue to stay away.
“It’s hard to hear people say they won’t be back based on the (condition of) the trail coming into town,” he said, but opening up Lake Moxie Road would ease that complaint.
Jimmy Doria, who owns the Inn by the River in West Forks and employs nearly 200 people, echoed Stimpson’s comments, saying his guests “build their trips around the time that they go to a restaurant and even people staying there are having trouble getting in and out.”
Ultimately he would like to see the trail improved, but the most immediate help for local businesses would be to let ATVs travel on the road.
Commissioner Joel Stetkis asked about the option of limiting ATV access to locals who live along the road, while acknowledging that wouldn’t address visitors traveling to The Forks.
Chris Fife, the public affairs manager for the timber company Weyerhaeuser, told commissioners that the company works hard to keep ATV traffic separate from log traffic on its own roads. “It’s just a recipe for bad things to happen,” he said, and while the company wants to see The Forks thrive and its businesses successful, “access to our land is around the Indian Pond Road where we would be coming down Lake Moxie Road,” and safety is a concern.
Fife did say elsewhere “that it seems like the safety has been better with ATVs sharing the road rather than being on the shoulder, and maybe it seems counterintuitive, but maybe where ATVs are using the roadway, maybe being part of the traffic pattern has made it safer, at least at slower speeds.”
Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster, who attended the public hearing, said he supports lowering the speed to 35 mph on any stretch of road that is shared with ATVs.
“It’s a winding road. It’s somewhat steep in places. We’d hate to see an accident between a log truck and ATV sharing that road,” Fife said, and Weyerhaeuser “really feels that separating them as much as possible is the best way to keep them safe.”
In the application to open the road for ATV access, Towle pointed out that while The Forks has no shared access roads, Greenville, Jackman, Bingham, Embden, Norridgewock and Hartland are all “road friendly, and some have the entire towns open for shared access,” including 92 miles in Hartland.
Towle would like to see The Forks join that trend by lowering speed limits at shared access points along Lake Moxie Road, seeking additional law enforcement for speeders and treating ATV riders the same as all other motor vehicles that travel on that road.
“We can safely assume,” he wrote, “no matter what, people are going to use it regardless of trail conditions” and he thinks the safer option is to open the road and strictly police it.
Commissioners did not act on the ATV club’s application immediately following the public hearing, preferring instead to wait for a future meeting.
“We’re going to digest this. We’re not going to shoot from the bottom of our hip,” said Chairman Robert Sezak.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Feb. 4.
