Whether to allow ATV's in Three Lakes to use busy county road "A" will return to a county committee after they decided they needed to find out more information.
The town board in Three Lakes approved the use of town roads. Other lesser-traveled Oneida county roads are open to ATV use, but Highway Commissioner Freeman Bennett says he has concerns about allowing ATV's on "A". The committee has given Bennett the authority to regulate whether county roads should be open to ATV's, but he says the county "A" corridor between Sugar Camp and Three Lakes is different..
"...there is an excessive amount of cars out there. The average daily traffic on Highway 'A' is 1600 cars....winter is going to be less, but summer is going to be greater..."
Supervisor David Hintz asked the committee to determine the accurate speed limits and insurance issues..
"....is it 25 or 35(mph)..the insurance coverage. That's outlined in the procedures of this group that the club needs insurance. ...what does that insurance really cover?"
Bennett said the winding road offered a challenge for drivers who come upon an ATV going a maximum of 35 miles per hour.
A recent meeting of the Three Lakes-Nicolet ATV club showed a large number at that meeting in favor of opening the road to ATV's. Former Three Lakes town board chair Don Sidlowski told the committee to carefully study the issue before giving an ok...
"....on a tricky-to-navigate road, we don't need to introduce anything that could cause a situation to occur..."
ATV club President Mark Kirby said the club is committed to safety and will work with the county. The town of Sugar Camp Monday will consider opening town roads to ATV's which would enable the length of county "A" to be used if county permission is granted.
The Public Works committee took no action, but will check into the issues raised and talk about it again at it's meeting in two weeks.
