Township talks ATVs

Booting around municipal roads on an All-Terrain Vehicles may be legal in Oliver-Paipoonge as early as Tuesday morning.

The Township’s council is expecting to hear a report from the OPP about the impacts of having ATVs on municipal road Monday evening. Following the presentation, council will discuss and may vote on amending a bylaw that will allow ATVs to legally travel on municipal roads within the township.

"They’ve been going on municipal roads, so I guess we’ve been allowing it illegally," said Oliver-Paipoonge mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis. "ATVs are really becoming popular and it’s a preferred mode of transportation for a lot of rural residents. If we pass this bylaw then we have control with how they are used on the road."

Unlike the City of Thunder Bay, the Township of Oliver-Paipoonge is made up mostly of farms and large rural properties. This geography, combined with high gas prices, has led to a surge in the number of people using ATVs to travel short distances.

Not allowing the ATVs on the roads have also proved problematic for residents. Property owners in the township have complained that people driving ATVs damage their property when they try to avoid the roads and drive near the ditches.

Mayor Kloosterhuis said the township believes they can stop this problem by allowing the vehicles on the municipal roads.

"If we get them on t he road, then we can get them out of the ditches and off of people’s private properties," she said. "I’ve talked to numerous residents and a few didn’t care one way or the other, while the majority seem to want to see (ATVs) controlled and allowed to go on the roads."