ATVs to be allowed on some CBS roads in 2024
By Mark Squibb
December 29, 2023
CBS Councillor-at-Large and ATV committee chairman Paul Connors says he’s excited about a pilot project that will see the creation of two ATV routes for riders to access some town roadways.
“ATV users in Conception Bay South, and I would say across the island, across the Avalon for sure, have been waiting a long time to hear an announcement like this in Conception Bay South, and I’m very pleased to be a part of the council that did this,” said Connors during last week’s council meeting. “It is a pilot project which will allow ATV users to ride on certain roads within out town for longer than the one-kilometre rule of the provincial off-road vehicle Act, similar to what’s going on in other communities, like Corner Brook, Bay Roberts, Carbonear, Deer Lake, Gander, a whole pile of them.”
Connors stressed the pilot project will have no impact on Town-owned walking trails.
“Off-road vehicles will not be permitted on our walking trails,” said Connors. “Our goal is to implement this in the spring of 2024, if everything goes right, and so over the next several months we will have some public consultation sessions to allow residents to have input on this pilot project. We’ll also confirm the proposed routes through the consultation process. I could go on about this for another long while, but I’ll stop there.”
Connors added the pilot project is above and beyond a current Crown Lands application for a trail from Seal Cove to Legion Road, which he said the Town is still working on.
Connors also noted council is continuing to work on regulations regarding ATV use on the trails.
“We are in the process of developing our own off-road vehicle regulations which will cover designated routes, rules of operation, times of operation, approved areas, etcetera,” said Connors. “The Town currently doesn’t have off-road or ATV regulations.”
Mayor Darrin Bent said he was pleased with the project and hopes CBS will one day be known as an ATV-friendly community.
He joked that maybe even some day Connors will be able to drive his ATV to the council meeting.
With feigned shock, Connors asked whether he wasn’t already allowed to do that and Bent, in turn, joked that Town enforcement would turn a blind eye this time around.