SKOWHEGAN — In a split vote Wednesday, the Somerset County Commission rejected a request from the Lake Moxie ATV Club to open a section of Lake Moxie Road to all‑terrain vehicle traffic, a change the club said was needed for safety.
Commissioner John Alsop spoke in strong opposition to opening the paved road for shared use.
“We’re talking about a matter of preference, where we would use the road rather than an available trail,” he said, noting that the change would put ATVs, logging trucks and other vehicles in the same stream of traffic. “As a commissioner, I feel strongly that it’s unsafe. Someone’s going to get killed, and I don’t want to be any part of it.”
The club filed its application for ATV access in October. During a public hearing in late January, commissioners heard from several business owners who supported opening a 2.2‑mile stretch of Lake Moxie Road in The Forks to shared ATV traffic, saying it would make it easier for riders to reach nearby stores and restaurants.
Club President Ben Towle, who spoke at the hearing on behalf of landowners and campowners along that stretch of road and in surrounding areas, said the request was not intended to encourage riders to use Lake Moxie Road instead of the nearby off‑road trail system, but to give people who live on the road a shorter route to stores, the gas station and restaurants.
When commissioners raised safety concerns during the hearing, Towle suggested lowering the speed limit to 35 mph from the current 45 mph and limiting shared use to daylight hours.
Commissioner Don Skillings, who supports opening the road for shared access, said Wednesday he recently rode the nearby trail by snowmobile and found a culvert sitting about 3 feet above the ground near Boise Road, along with large rocks on the trail itself.
After spending hours on his sled, beginning in Greenville, he said the section from Moxie Lake Road down to The Forks was the “worst part of the trail we rode all day.”
He said several businesses had asked the commission for help and that he favored opening the road with the restrictions Towle recommended, adding that the commission could set a one‑year limit on shared use and review how it is working next year.
He also pointed out that Maine allows shared ATV use on roads, with permission from local governments, and that he did not “want to limit the general public because of the concern of what might happen if a parent makes the choice to” let a 10-year-old ride on the road and possibly get hurt.
Skillings said the area is an unorganized territory that relies on the businesses operating there, noting that Somerset County depends on ecotourism dollars, including revenue from businesses that supported shared access and ATV rental companies.
Alsop acknowledged that some businesses want the road opened, but said he had received what he called “a rather compelling letter from a local rafting company” warning that the stretch under consideration sees heavy summer traffic — especially on weekends — from rafting operators.
“There’s also regular traffic, and maybe you disagree with me, but when the gentlemen from Weyerhaeuser spoke (during the public hearing), what I heard was that ATVs and logging trucks don’t mix,” he said.
During that hearing, Chris Fife, public affairs manager for the timber company, told commissioners that Weyerhaeuser works hard to keep ATV traffic separate from log trucks on its own roads because shared use is “just a recipe for bad things to happen.”
He said the stretch of road being considered is one the company routinely uses because “access to our land is around the Indian Pond Road, where we would be coming down Lake Moxie Road,” and that allowing shared use at any speed raised safety concerns.
Commissioner Joel Stetkis said he supported the club’s petition to open the road with restrictions, and that “at the same time I feel we need to make investments in fixing the trail system so that it holds up” for ATV use.
He suggested that “if the paved road situation doesn’t work out — there’s too much stress on law enforcement or people are getting hurt — there’s a better option in the future to” repair the trail.
Commission Chairman Robert Sezak said he had questions about line of sight and shoulder access for ATVs, adding: “I do think there’s a capability of putting in a parallel trail. Why that hasn’t been looked at before, I don’t know.”
He also shared Alsop’s concerns about safety.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of ‘if’ there’s going to be an accident” if the road is shared with ATVs and other traffic, Sezak said. “I think it’s a matter of ‘when,’ and I can’t support opening up the road.
“I can support investing in a new trail or investing in the existing trail, but as far as safety concerns for everyone involved – not just ATVs, but the people with driver’s licenses and vehicle insurance — the roads are for them, not ATVs.”
Noting that he had heard from people both in favor and against the proposal, Skillings urged the commission to give the ATV club “this opportunity.”
“I harken back to that,” he said. “We can’t babysit every person. With the right parameters (a lowered speed limit and daylight hours), we can try this reasonably and see if it works.”
In the end, Sezak, Alsop and Commissioner Scott Seekins voted against the ATV’s club’s application. Skillings and Stetkis voted in favor.
On Friday, Towle, president of the ATV club, wrote in a text message to Monitor Local that he “will not be appealing the decision at this time but will be working with them (commissioners) to further define and clear up inaccuracies.”
During their discussion, commissioners discussed whether county funds could be used for trail improvements and if they should ask the Maine Department of Transportation to conduct a safety study on that section of road to help guide future decisions on speed limits and access, but no decisions were made.
