Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp and his son Tavin ride along a gravel driveway in a UTV (utility task vehicle) after picking up their trash can Wednesday afternoon at their home in the town of Plymouth. The roads in the town are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp rolls his trash can over to the UTV while at the end of their long, gravel driveway Wednesday afternoon at their home in Plymouth Township. The roads in Plymouth Township are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp backs his UTV out of the garage as he and his son Tavin ride down their long gravel driveway to pick up the trash can Wednesday afternoon at their home in Plymouth Township. The roads in Plymouth Township are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp, a Western Rock County ATV Club member, shows off one of the signs his group is responsible for purchasing and posting along the townshipÃÛèÖÊÓƵ roads.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp and his son Tavin ride along a gravel driveway in a UTV (utility task vehicle) after picking up their trash can Wednesday afternoon at their home in the town of Plymouth. The roads in the town are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Two Rock County towns will soon allow ATVs to join traffic that includes cars, trucks, motorcycles and farm implements on town roads.
Four other towns and the village of Orfordville are considering doing the same.
“In the past few years, ATVs and UTVs have kind of exploded in popularity,†Rock County DNR Warden Austin Schumacher said.
UTVs, or utility task vehicles, seem especially popular, Schumacher said. UTVs accommodate two riders, versus one for ATVs, and UTVs generally have more safety features.
For the purposes of this article, “ATV†will be used as a generic term for both kinds of vehicles.
Schumacher said he is seeing more ATV riders of late, and common citations he issues are for driving illegally on roads.
New ordinances in the western Rock County towns of Union and Plymouth and the village of Footville will allow people to drive their ATVs on town roads but not on county roads or state or U.S. highways.
The new ordinances will not take effect until ATV route signs are posted.
The town boards of Avon, Center, Clinton and Rock are all considering similar ordinances, town officials told ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ.
Concerns heard
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp noted concerns about speeding and large numbers of ATVS on the roads. But he said people who oppose ATVs on the roads are often uninformed.
Bomkamp noted concerns about speeding and large numbers of ATVS on the roads.
“ThatÃÛèÖÊÓƵ usually not the people that are out there for a Sunday drive,†Bomkamp said.
Gregg Wartgow, who was elected town board chairman in Avon in April, said he was open to ATVs on the roads, but after much research, he opposes it.
Avon held an advisory referendum on the issue in April, and Wartgow said at the time he would need to see 66% of voters favoring ATVs on roads in order to back the idea. The referendum passed, but only by 119 to 90, or 57%.
The Avon board will vote on an ordinance designating ATV routes on town roads soon. Wartgow has heard strong opinions on both sides.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp backs his UTV out of the garage as he and his son Tavin ride down their long gravel driveway to pick up the trash can Wednesday afternoon at their home in Plymouth Township. The roads in Plymouth Township are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Anthony Wahl
Passion on both sides
“Some of our meetings have gotten really heated in the past few months,†Wartgow said.
Proponents, meanwhile, are impatient, demanding to know why Avon hasn’t opened its roads to ATVs, Wartgow said.
Wartgow said his research revealed questions he couldn’t find answers to.
“I get nervous about Avon kind of being the guinea pig with all the other issues we have,†Wartgow said.
“From what I’ve heard, there really isn’t a strategy for increased patrolling or resourcing to help townships that don’t have their own law enforcement agencies to police this kind of thing,†Wartgow said.
Some have expressed fears of caravans of ATV riders on the roads, Wartgow said.
“Nobody really knows, and I’ve talked to our law enforcement partners and others who are concerned that could happen because of the recreational magnets that already exist in Avon,†Wartgow said, referring to the 3,400-acre Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area along the Sugar River.
Just another form of travel
ATV advocates say fear of big swarms of ATVs is unwarranted.
“(Town officials) are going to see their residents take part in it, but I don’t see a huge amount of people coming to do it,†said Jason Knox, president of the Western Rock County ATV Club, which has been pushing local governments to establish ATV road routes.
Knox said common ATV traffic would be people riding into town to go to a restaurant or store in Orfordville.
“At the end of the day, itÃÛèÖÊÓƵ another mode of transportation to go from place ‘A’ to place ‘B,’ and a lot of people just like to hop in—and as weird as it might sound to some people—go down the road on a relaxing ride to somewhere,†Knox said.
Wartgow said Avon already sees ATV riders illegally using roads, including enthusiasts from Illinois. Avon sits on the state line.
Proponents argue that ATV routes could boost local economies as ATV riders spend money in taverns, gas stations and other businesses.
Avon has no such businesses, Wartgow said, and he worries about costs such as wear and tear on town roads and littering.
Some towns are adding restrictions to their ordinances. Union, for example, bans ATV riding from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., Town Supervisor Kim Gruebling said.
Gruebling noted that ATV riding has been widespread in northern Wisconsin for years.
“We had a referendum, and it passed roughly 2 to 1. It wasn’t even close. If thatÃÛèÖÊÓƵ what they want, we’re not pioneering anything here,†Gruebling said.
“We just hope everybody operates safely and has due regard and remembers this is a privilege,†Gruebling said. “If we have too many complaints—we can authorize it, we can also take it away.â€
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp rolls his trash can over to the UTV while at the end of their long, gravel driveway Wednesday afternoon at their home in Plymouth Township. The roads in Plymouth Township are now open to ATVs and UTVs.
Anthony Wahl
Allow but restrict?
ATV club president Knox is a member of the Orfordville Village Board, which is scheduled to vote on an ordinance Monday. His vision for an expanding network of ATV routes would come to fruition if the ordinance passes, because the adjoining town of Plymouth has already approved ATV road routes.
Orfordville Village President Gary Phillips backs an ordinance with restrictions, which he sees as a compromise.
The ordinance likely will include speed limits of 10 mph on residential streets and 25 mph on the designated route, Phillips said. Drivers would be required to have a driverÃÛèÖÊÓƵ license and liability insurance.
“I think everybodyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ voice needs to be heard in this,†Phillips said. “You don’t have to like it, but you can live with it. Is everybody going to be happy? No, but I think we can do something to make it work and try to be respectful to everybody.â€
Safety first
The Department of Natural Resources, which regulates ATV use, declined to take a position on the increasing numbers of municipalities that allow ATVs on their roads.
“We stress safety in all activities, from the off-highway vehicles to boating to fishing to snowmobiling to paddling and on and on,†DNR spokeswoman Joanne Haas said in an email.
The safety of ATVs on roads with other vehicles is an often-raised concern. Knox said nothing is perfectly safe, and accidents will happen.
“Some of these UTVs are pretty protected. They have the roll bars or roll cages,†Knox said.
A 68-year-old UTV driver died June 8 in the city limits of Monroe, where ATV routes have been established.
The John Deere Gator left the roadway while trying to turn left and overturned, according to the Green County SheriffÃÛèÖÊÓƵ Office.
“It appeared that the driver was not wearing a safety harness or helmet,†the sheriffÃÛèÖÊÓƵ news release states.
“Obviously, safety is a top priority, but you can only do so much,†Knox said. “You can put all the precautions in place, and somebody is still going to do something or not do something correctly, and thereÃÛèÖÊÓƵ going to be an issue.â€
One desire of area ATV riders is to be able to travel beyond the borders of their towns, which happens when adjoining towns approve ATV road routes.
If enough towns join the movement, people could hop on their ATVs and drive long distances, perhaps to off-road trails where ATVs are allowed, or at least to adjoining counties. ThatÃÛèÖÊÓƵ the topic of the second of this two-part series on ATVs, which the Gazette will publish in FridayÃÛèÖÊÓƵ paper.
Plymouth Town Board Chairman Don Bomkamp, a Western Rock County ATV Club member, shows off one of the signs his group is responsible for purchasing and posting along the townshipÃÛèÖÊÓƵ roads.
Anthony Wahl
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