Trail user frustrated by damage
O’LEARY -- John MacWilliams cut short a recent morning bike ride.
The O’Leary resident went back home and started calling and emailing anyone he could think of to express his frustration with the destruction he has been encountering along the Confederation Trail.
He has seen the ruts in the past where all-terrain vehicles enter the trail from ditches or around gates and then gun their engines, tearing up the trail surface in the process.
But this outing was different. A trails maintenance crew had just completed some upgrade and rolling work the previous week, and MacWilliams was expecting a smooth ride.
“It’s all tore to pieces out here,” he said, the frustration dripping from his voice.
He estimates he encounters four-wheelers and dirt bikes on the trail on about one-half of his biking and walking outings.
As he and two companions were finishing up a lunch hour walk recently, MacWilliams said they were standing along the trail near the Main Street crossing. “A young fellow came onto the trail as we were standing there,” he related. “We stepped out of the way and he came onto the trail and he just gunned the 4-wheeler.”
MacWilliams routinely takes photos of the motorized vehicles he encounters on the trail, but the operators have helmets and their machines don’t have registration plates, so he admits identifying them is difficult. Still, he persists. “They all know I do it,” he said.
“They’re breaking the law,” he said but added, “My main issue, as I watch them leave here, it’s a safety thing. If anybody stepped out between cars at Guardian (Drug) and stepped onto the trail, they’d be gone.” The Guardian Drug parking lot is right beside the trail where the 4-wheeler had zoomed past.
MacWilliams pointed out it’s easy to see how extensive ATV traffic is on the trail, just from the paths around the gates and the paths up out of ditches. The trail surface gets torn up where the machines accelerate upon entering the trail.
