Officials look for ways to get snowmobilers off Riainy River Road
A special meeting was conducted at the Case Township Hall Tuesday to address concerns involving snowmobile trails that run on public roads. Studs from snowmobile tracks have been puncturing tires on cars and trucks which travel the same roads. The meeting was attended by Case Township board members, Presque Isle County sheriff Terry Flewelling, representatives of the Department of Natural Resources, road commission, Sno-Trails, as well as business owners, and area citizens.
Of particular concern is a seven mile stretch of Rainy River Road from Five Mile Highway to Freel Highway where the studs are being found on the blacktop portion of the road. A half dozen people have said they?ve received flat tires, while one citizen walked a length of the road and picked up a pail worth of studs.
CASE TOWNSHIP supervisor Dean Storms believes it?s a serious situation. There?s a concern for people driving the roads at night, some who may need assistance if they receive a flat, fire departments, first responders, and ambulances. Also, parts of the area do not have cellular phone reception.
?My wife in particular is a handicapper,? Storms said. ?She?s a stroke survivor and I don?t want her driving on those roads in the wintertime when the snowmobilers are out. I don?t think I?m alone in that respect.? Storms said Case Township will continue conducting meetings through the summer months to discuss alternate routes. The next meeting on the issue will be May 10 at 7 p.m. at the township hall. ?This is not a snowmobile bashing meeting, and neither will I tolerate it,? said Storms. ?I?m a snowmobiler — have been since the 1960s — I enjoy my snowmobiles, and I will continue to do that.?
Storms said the community needs to be inviting to snowmobilers because of the influx of money they bring to Millersburg businesses during the winter.
THE FIRST CHOICE will be to get the snowmobiles off the road and onto a designated trail, preferably in the woods. The problem is a swamp to the west of Rainy River Road, which is still called ?Swamp Road? by some, and private landowners who don?t want the machines on their property. Another alternative would be to seek grant funding to build a trail parallel to Rainy River Road. ?The first choice is to get them over into the woods, but if that doesn?t work, then we?ll go along side of the road,? Storms said. The DNR shares that objective.
?I know the department, just for safety reasons, if nothing els
ROLLAND REIGER of Sno-Trails, which maintains the county?s snowmobile trails, said many alternatives have been looked at in the Millersburg areas the last 12 years, and if there is an option which hasn?t been explored, his group would like to know about it. Millersburg resident Virgil Freel said if the township petitioned the road commission to prohibit the use of snowmobiles on county roads, it would only take between now and the fall for an alternate route to be found.
?Why wouldn?t it be the objective to get these snowmobilers off the road right-of-ways,? said Freel. Storms said it was a good first meeting, with a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people bringing a lot of provocative discussion to the table.. Storms said ?we have all summer to work on it.?