QUAD NB and the Tantramar ATV club have proposed new routes for off-road vehicles to get access to downtown Sackville and the village of Dorchester. The groups are seeking support from Tantramar council before they pursue formal bylaw changes and applications to the provincial departments of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI), and Natural Resources.
Quad NB trails coordinator Vance Johnson presented what he called a draft version of a proposed route map to Tantramar council on Tuesday evening, with Tantramar ATV club member Trevor Richard there for support. “We’re bringing it here tonight to give you an opportunity to have a look, ask some questions,” said Johnson.
The proposed route uses the existing ATV trail alongside the TransCanada Highway near exit 504, and extends it to the top of Squire Street near the highway. Then the group proposes using parts of Squire, Princess, and Weldon Streets to connect to the parking lot at the Painted Pony in downtown Sackville.
The proposal also includes connecting existing Tantramar trails to the provincial system by extending ATV access to the TransCanada trail from Brooklyn Siding (where vehicle access currently ends) down to Station Road. The route then follows Station Road, crosses Route 940 and continues on Mount View Road for 6.4 km, where it eventually meets the existing ATV trail system.
A connection to Dorchester is also proposed using sections of Walker, Lower Walker, Woodlawn, Lower Fairfield, and Cherry Burton roads.
To get access to the routes proposed, QUAD NB will need to see Tantramar’s by-law amended, and also get permission from DTI for use of provincial roads, and from Natural Resources for use of the TransCanada Trail. To start the process, the group is asking Tantramar council for a letter of support.
“There’s multiple authorities involved here,” Johnson told council Tuesday. “And before we go outside to any of those, we would be seeking municipal support, so a resolution of council or a letter of support, supporting the application in its general form.”
After that, “we would be working with council or representatives of the municipality in a liaison capacity to sort of finalize the destinations where we want to get to, and how we want to get there,” said Johnson.
Johnson told council that the group is open to making changes to the proposed routes, and “make sure that everybody’s happy with the end result.”
The process to change a bylaw involves a public hearing and three readings of the bylaw over at least two meetings. A letter of support requires a simpler and shorter process, but Johnson’s goal is to gain support so that a new bylaw would eventually be approved, and so that Quad NB can begin to approach provincial authorities.
“This is the place for us to start to see, first of all, if the support is there,” Johnson told council, “if what you see on the map is something you are willing to entertain, if you have other ideas… This is a place where we want to get this off the ground, get it going, get it started.”
Goguen asks about possible noise issues
Councillors Josh Goguen asked Johnson about the issue of noise on residential town streets like Squire, Princess and Weldon. Johnson said that normally the group avoids using residential streets for access. “We tend to steer away from the residential areas,” he said. “We don’t want the ATV traffic in there, even if we’re trying to get to the business district. But if we can get to the business district and not be on Main Street, that’s a plus for us as well.”
Recently, the municipality received a letter from DTI rejecting the idea of off-road vehicle access to downtown Sackville via Main and Bridge Streets. The response from DTI said the “maximum length for an ATV run along a public road is one (1) kilometre unless it is a low traffic volume road,” in which case ATVs are permitted to access up to five kilometres.
The distance from Main Street at Wright Avenue down to Bridge Street at Weldon (where the Painted Pony has offered parking access) is about 1.5 kilometres.
Mayor Andrew Black also chimed in in response to Goguen’s question, saying that he hasn’t heard complaints from residents on the current sections of streets that have allowed ATV traffic since 2019. The former town of Sackville bylaw currently allows access for about 350 metres on each of Mallard Drive and Wright Street, near exit 504, passing by mostly commercial properties, and a handful of houses.
“I haven’t personally heard of anybody who lives in that area being concerned or voicing concern over noise,” said Black. “So we do have a bylaw on the books already that seems to be working very well. So I guess I’ll just make that point for what it’s worth.”
It will take a motion from a councillor to bring the issue formally to the council table. In January 2024, Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell put forward a motion to seek permission from the province on expanded ATV trail access, which was approved. If Wiggins-Colwell or another councillor gives notice of a new motion on the matter, the question will come back to a future council meeting.
