Dave White is the president of the Queens County ATV Association. (Rick Conrad)

ATV operators in Queens County will soon be able to ride their vehicles on some municipal roads in Liverpool.

Region of Queens councillors adopted a new road trails bylaw on Tuesday, paving the way for off-highway vehicles to use some roads to access trails and services.

• READ THE BYLAW HERE

The rules take effect Feb. 1. But Dave White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, says there’s still some work to do to get the trails ready for riders.

“It’s really important for people to note that, although it’s passed second reading today, it will not become officially open. … Things that have to be done is we have trail signage to go up as well as the region has some signage for where the trail crosses streets. So they’ve already done some preliminary work.”

White said the association, the ATV Association of Nova Scotia and the municipality will update users on when the trails are ready to use.

The bylaw designates five routes around Liverpool that riders can use to access services or other trails.

It’s been about two and a half years since the association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association approached the region to create a connected trail network similar to those that exist in neighbouring Lunenburg and Shelburne counties and in other parts of Atlantic Canada.

ATV groups say that the changes will bring more economic activity to Queens County. In 2022, ATV users said they spent $454 million in Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia government passed the Road Trails Act in 2023, which allows off-highway vehicles on provincial and municipal roads with certain conditions.

“It’s been a major development and a lot of work with the municipality, over the last six months, but really over almost two and a half years at this point,” White said .

“So we are exceptionally pleased with it.”

White says motorists won’t see much of a change once the rules go into effect, since the vehicles won’t be allowed everywhere.

“You will see off-highway vehicles on defined streets. That’s important, it is not all of town. It’s very specific.”

The routes are behind the municipal offices on White Point Road and at various points from the Trestle Trail that would allow access to the Visitor Information Centre, downtown shops and services like the gas stations and grocery stores around Queens Place Drive. 

The association also signed an agreement with a local landowner so riders can access the former rail bed to get to the Milton Road. 

“And then you’ll travel like any other vehicle down to the light, and have all of the options open to you, including the yield lane to the right to access Irving, Shell and Hank Snow Drive, which will allow us to have combined tourism events with the friends of the Hank Snow Society, which we’re very excited for, and we’re hoping to do an event with them in February.

“You will also be able to turn left at the light to access businesses like Sobeys, Superstore, McDonald’s, Dollarama, Queens Place, Best Western, which is a major win because people will be able to come in and do expanded tourism opportunities. So we’re very excited.”

White says once the trails are open, they should bring in business from off-highway vehicle users from around the province.

He says people can get more details about the routes by downloading the ATV Association of Nova Scotia’s mobile app. 

Here are the routes outlined in the bylaw:

• West Street from civic number 181 to the intersection with Harley Umphrey Drive, then to the intersection with White Point Road.
• King Street from civic number 56 to the intersection with Lawrence Street, then to the intersection with Wolfe Street to civic number 16.
• Main Street from the intersection with Central Boulevard to civic number 741.
• Brunswick Street from civic number 63 to the intersection with Main Street, then to the intersection with Henry Hensey Drive to the pump station at civic number 4 Henry Hensey Drive.
• Milton Road from civic number 31 to the intersection with Bristol Avenue, west to the intersection with Hank Snow Drive and east to the intersection with Queens Place Drive. Included is Hank Snow Drive to civic number 38 and the entirety of Queens Place Drive and Old Cobbs Barn Road.

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Dave White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, at a July public information session on road trails. (Rick Conrad / File)

ATV users will soon be able to travel more easily through Queens County.

Regional councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to create a bylaw that would allow the vehicles on some municipal roads.

The bylaw will designate five routes around Liverpool that riders can use to access services or other trails.

Dave White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, and about 30 supporters were at the council meeting for the vote.

“We’re really excited with the decision of council tonight to move forward to the bylaw phase with all five road trails in the Region of Queens Municipality, specifically in the former township, to create trail-to-trail and trail-to-amenities connections,” White said in an interview afterward.

“And I think this is going to be a really positive thing for our community so we’re very excited.”

It’s been about two years since the association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association approached the region to create a connected trail network similar to those that exist in neighbouring Lunenburg and Shelburne counties and in other parts of Atlantic Canada.

ATV groups say that the changes will bring more economic activity to Queens County. In 2022, ATV users said they spent  $454 million in Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia government passed the Road Trails Act in 2023, which allows off-highway vehicles on provincial and municipal roads with certain conditions.

The region formed an ad hoc committee with local ATV organizations. The groups consulted with property owners, held public engagement sessions and asked for feedback in an online survey.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. About 180 people attended an information session at the Liverpool Fire Hall in July. Nobody voted against any of the five proposed routes. (Note: The routes are explained in detail at the end of this story.)

The online survey garnered between 74 and 84 per cent support for each route.

Those routes are behind the municipal offices on White Point Road and at various points from the Trestle Trail that would allow access to the Visitor Information Centre, downtown shops and Queens Place Drive. 

In a staff report to council, project officer Richard Lane said comments from residents were mostly positive, but some were confused about the rules, while others worried about how those rules would be enforced.

The region’s traffic authority, Director of Infrastructure Adam Grant, said increased traffic from ATVs may contribute to driver confusion in some areas, like the intersection of Bristol Avenue and Milton Road.

He said he wanted to ensure that public safety remains the priority as the region moves ahead with a bylaw.

The region also consulted five other municipalities with road trail networks – the towns of Oxford, Pictou, Shelburne and Yarmouth and the city of Corner Brook, NL.

The municipality asked Queens District RCMP for their feedback but didn’t get a response. 

Mayor Scott Christian said Queens will likely use municipal bylaws in other jurisdictions as their guide.

“We’re going to take all those lessons and try to … do it right the first time and just make it really clear and easy for the users about how they can navigate the road trails through the town of Liverpool, where they can go, where they can’t go, how they can safely operate their vehicles in town. I’m really excited about it.”

As with any new bylaw, the region must notify the public and give them an opportunity to comment at a public hearing. Christian said it shouldn’t take long to draft it.

White says road trail bylaws in other places are usually brief, since a lot of the regulations are already in provincial legislation.

He says that after lobbying two separate councils for the past two years, he’s happy that ATV users will soon get a greenlight to ride on certain roads.

“There are lots of things going on in a muncipality at any given time and while this took a little longer than we had hoped, we’re very happy with the outcome.”

FIVE PROPOSED ROAD TRAIL ROUTES IN LIVERPOOL (Source: Region of Queens staff report from Richard Lane, presented at Oct. 28 council meeting)

Route #1

From the rail trail as it enters Liverpool from the Shelburne direction and emerges from the walking trail behind the municipal office at 249 White Point Road, the road trail would allow a right turn onto West Street and left onto Harley Umphrey Drive. The road trail would then cross Hwy 3 and join the Trestle Trail, the road trail would also continue along George Street and end at the intersection with Old Port Mouton Road.

Route #2

Diverging from the Trestle Trail, the road trail would turn right onto King Street, left onto Lawrence Street, and right onto Wolfe Street until rejoining the Trestle Trail at Central Boulevard. The purpose of this road trail would be to avoid travel through a residential backyard and a section with poor sight lines and steep gradient.

Route #3

From the Trestle Trail as it crosses Main Street, the road trail would allow a left turn as far as the end of municipal street jurisdiction at Mersey Place Court. This would allow access to the Cowie Well and prepare for connection to the Trestle Trail from outside town limits via Milton, should an application be submitted to the Province of Nova Scotia for access in the future.

Route #4

From the Trestle Trail, the road trail would allow a right turn onto Brunswick Street, slight left on Main Street and right onto Henry Hensey Drive as far as the Visitor Information Centre. No access to Market Street, Bristol Avenue, or Main Street would be available. This road trail would enable access to parking, shops, and services including the Visitor Information Centre.

Route #5

Following the Trestle Trail until a left turn onto an access road at 31 Milton Road, the proposed road trail joins Milton Road with a right turn to the traffic light. From the traffic lights, the route allows a right turn onto Bristol Avenue, and a left turn onto Hank Snow Drive – no further travel on Bristol Avenue would be permitted. The route also enables riders to go straight through the traffic light, or to turn left and then left again onto Queens Place Drive. The inclusion of Old Cobbs Barn Road enables future road trail designation of a section of Hwy 3 toward Brooklyn, should an application be submitted to the Province of Nova Scotia in the future. This route would enable access to multiple shops, gas stations, accommodation, and amenities such as the Hank Snow Hometown Museum and Queens Place Emera Centre.

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ATVs ride in the Privateer Days Parade last summer on the Liverpool waterfront. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens took the first step this week to allowing off-highway vehicles on some municipal roads, but ATV groups say they want to see a timeline for when it will happen.

Councillors voted on Tuesday evening to form an advisory committee to look at what needs to be in place to create the first part of a connected road trail network. 

That would go from West Street, near the municipal administration building and hook up with the multi-use Trestle Trail at various points to Bristol Avenue near the grocery stores and the Hank Snow Hometown Museum.

The Queens County ATV Association and the Queens Rails to Trails group have been lobbying the region since July 2023, shortly after the Nova Scotia government passed the Road Trails Act. That allows off-highway vehicles on provincial and municipal roads, with certain conditions.

Coun. Stewart Jenkins said it’s time the region acted.

“I think this is an important part of the tourism and recreation of Queens County and that we shouldn’t delay this because it seems like it’s been going on for a while,” he said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“I think we should get a move on it. The committee sounds like the right way to go with it. Start moving forward with it so that the ATV association and the users can make use of a good thing.”

Groups lobbying for the connected network say it could generate millions in economic activity for Liverpool businesses and would allow users to travel more easily from Lunenburg to Queens to Shelburne counties.

Dave White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, told QCCR that it’s good to have some movement from council.

He said his group and others have spent more $250,000 last year alone, maintaining 70 kilometres of trails in the county.

“It’s exciting to hear that they’ve actually made a commitment to have a committee look at it and hopefully that moves forward in a timely fashion. We would have liked to have heard a time commitment on that,” he said.

“The road trails act that came out two years ago provided a unique opportunity to make these connections. So when we look at our neighbouring municipalities and towns, so Shelburne, Digby, Barrington, Yarmouth have already done this, we don’t want to be left behind.”

The region’s committee will include staff, a member of council and representatives from ATV groups and local businesses.

It will look at costs, community engagement, any required upgrades to infrastructure and what should be in a bylaw or policy for road trails.

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David White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, made another appeal to regional councillors on Tuesday to create road trails in Queens County. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

ATV users in Queens County are motoring along with their plans to connect off-road trails with public roads and streets in the municipality.

And Region of Queens councillors are interested in hitching a ride.

David White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, was at regional council on Tuesday evening to repeat the group’s request from last March for the region to help make a connected network a reality.

“The idea behind them is to provide trail-to-trail connections and trail-to-access services. 
That’s supported by the 2022 Off-Highway Vehicle Spending Report that showed in the province of Nova Scotia in that year $464 million was spent by off-highway vehicle users. It’s time that impact was felt here in our county. It’s well past time. ”

This is the third time off-highway vehicle groups have appealed to councillors for a road trail that would allow users to go from Lunenburg to Queens to Shelburne counties.

They first presented to council in July 2023, shortly after the Nova Scotia government passed the Road Trails Act, which would allow off-highway vehicles on provincial and municipal roads, with certain conditions. Both levels of government must grant access. And in Queens, that would require a new bylaw.

Queens County ATV groups say having that connected trail locally would boost tourism and help local businesses by creating a destination riding area.

“You need look no further than this weekend gone by where 551 off-highway vehicle users registered and went on a run in Western Shore, and they raised over $13,000 for a volunteer group and their club and saw somewhere in the neighbourhood of 800 people participate. Sixty-one rooms were sold over two nights for a total of over 120 room nights in that community because of off-highway vehicle use.

“Our goal is to have a connected route across Queens County to complete the western loop of the Great Trail, part of the TransCanada Trail to be able to leave Lunenburg County and go right through to Shelburne with the bigger idea of leaving Halifax or Tantallon, travelling to Yarmouth, around to Middleton, and back to Bridgewater via New Germany.”

White told councillors his group has signed agreements with 10 private landowners in Queens County, which would give ATV riders permission to use people’s property to get from one trail to another.

He said the ATV association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association have also spent about $300,000 maintaining and improving trails around Queens County. 

White told councillors that Queens ATV Association spent $49,150 in 2024 clearing and improving trails for off-highway vehicles. 

The Queens Rails to Trails Association has spent almost $245,000 maintaining and improving other trails around Queens County.

White asked councillors for letters of support to explore developing the road trail network in Queens. And he said he’d like a commitment from the region to explore any funding for the groups. He also wanted the region to commit to a process that would begin consultations with ATV groups and others.

Mayor Scott Christian thanked White for his groups’ work on trails around the region.

“And I think it’s appropriate also to apologize for the lack of engagement or action on behalf of the Region of Queens Municipality in actioning previous requests, that the two organizations have made and attempts at engaging our municipality on these files.”

At Christian’s urging, councillors agreed to the letters of support and to explore funding for the groups. They also asked staff to prepare a report for their Feb. 25 meeting on connecting a trail near the region’s offices to the popular multi-use Trestle Trail.

Christian said he wants the region to continue consulting with the community about how to make the connected road trail a reality.

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