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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Volunteers with the Queens County ATV Association explained proposed new road trails at a public information session at the Liverpool Fire Hall on Tuesday. (Rick Conrad)

More than 150 people turned out on Tuesday evening to learn about how proposed new routes for off-highway vehicles could affect Liverpool motorists, residents and businesses.

The public consultation was organized by the Queens County ATV Association at the Liverpool Fire Hall.

“So what we’re looking to do is to provide connection for off-highway vehicle users to be able to get into our commercial districts to access our restaurants, our gas stations and our accommodations, as well as to provide trail-to-trail connections,” Dave White, president of the ATV association, told QCCR on Tuesday.

“So what we’re trying to do in the larger picture is have 100 per cent connection from Lunenburg through Queens County to Shelburne. And the even bigger picture is for an eventual development of a path that would see people be able to leave Tantallon, go all the way down to Yarmouth, around to Digby, over to Middleton, back across New Germany and back up to Tantallon, which would be a route that would be very similar, actually I think a little bit bigger than one that everybody travels to Newfoundland to do.

“So this provides a massive opportunity for recreational development and also for economic development because we know from the 2022 spending survey that $454 million got spent that year by off-highway vehicle users in Nova Scotia. So part of our hope is that we can start to see our county start to recognize some of that economic growth too.”

The ATV association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association have proposed five areas around Liverpool to connect existing off-road trails with municipal roadways so that riders can access services or other trails.

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

Five information stations were set up at the fire hall on Tuesday with volunteers at each to explain the routes and the laws around off-highway vehicle use on public roads.

People were asked to fill out feedback forms to say whether they oppose or support each route.

Dave White is president of the Queens County ATV Association and secretary of the Queens Rails to Trails Association. (Rick Conrad)

“We’ve had only positive feedback tonight that I’m aware of,” White said.

“We have had some questions about what the rules are. So there are speed limits, you do have to have a drivers licence, you have to be insured, you have to have your headlights on even during daylight hours. The times are restricted to daylight hours. So there are lots of rules that cover it.”

Brianna Darton and Erich Gennette traveled from Mount Uniacke to find out what it’s all about. Darton’s parents live in Liverpool.

“We’re kind of in the process of introducing my parents to the world of ATVing and if we can make things a little more convenient for them I think that would be a good start,” Darton said.

“I think it would be a great thing for them to do as they head into retirement and any encouragement with ease of access (and) they’re afraid of breaking the rules. They don’t want to drive where they shouldn’t.”

“At the moment really all we can do,” Gennette said, “is go from the No. 3 (highway) to Bridgewater and it would be really nice to do more than that. We just did it today. We’ve seen it. We’d like to do something different. So if we could go through Liverpool and go down to Shelburne that would be cool and just see a new place because this is our first time going ATVing down here and we’d like to do it more often.”

Peter Lavender of Liverpool said he wanted to find out how the proposed routes would affect traffic going into downtown.

“I was concerned mainly about Bristol (Avenue), you know, the main part of town going through Main Street but apparently they avoided that. They’re going all the way around that so it’s looking pretty good.”

White says off-highway vehicle users love visiting other areas of the province and they want to be able to travel more easily through Queens County and invite others to visit too.

“Our interest isn’t just in having it, we want it done properly, safely and to encourage good use and good economic impact.”

White says the ATV groups will work with municipal staff to collect the results of the feedback from Tuesday’s session. Regional councillors have seemed supportive of the idea of a connected road trail network in Queens County.

They would have to create a new by-law to make it happen.

White says he hopes that process can be wrapped up by the end of the year.

In the meantime, residents can give their feedback in an online survey posted by the region on its Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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

ATV riders in Queens County are hoping to connect off-road trails with public roads and streets in the municipality so that operators can more easily use local services and support local businesses.

David White, president of the Queens County ATV Association, and vice-president Greg Wigglesworth made a presentation to regional council this week outlining various options to make that happen. 

“In this case, we’re asking the Region of Queens for assistance with some connection within the township,” he said in an interview after the meeting.

“The whole goal here is to make a trail that connects across Queens County as well as providing economic advantage by bringing off-highway vehicle users to be able to access things like gas and accommodation and restaurants and that sort of thing.” 

This isn’t the first time White has proposed a connected network through Queens County for users of off-highway vehicles.

The association spoke to council last July about the idea, shortly after the Nova Scotia government passed the Road Trails Act. That would allow OHVs on provincial and municipal roads, with certain conditions.

Both levels of government must first grant ATV access to those roads. In the Region of Queens, that would require a new bylaw. 

White and Wigglesworth presented councillors with various options to create a road trail near Queens Place Emera Centre, the Best Western and businesses around the intersection of Milton Road and Route 3 that would connect with the Trestle Trail. They also outlined options for a road trail to connect the Trestle Trail to White Point Road and from the trail to the lower parking lot downtown.

It’s part of the group’s vision to create a destination riding area in Queens for ATV users. White told councillors it would attract more business to the area from riders in the municipality and beyond.

“Our ultimate goal is to create the connectivity, to be able to go from the Lunenburg-Queens County line to the Queens-Shelburne line. Other ATV groups in other areas are working to make those connections as well.

“We’re looking to do it in a way that has minimal impact on residents. Our ultimate goal is to improve the connectivity, to enhance the trails for everybody, so it’s better quality trail for off-highway vehicles, walkers, cyclists and other users, as well as to make sure we have that economic impact, and to make sure we’re maintaining a safe environment for everyobdy.”

White said the group has been canvassing property owners and businesses. So far, he says, the response has been positive. He said Yarmouth has already allowed access to off-highway vehicles on Water Street in their downtown core.

“It’s very well travelled and they’ve been having a lot of success with that.”

Councillors appeared supportive of the idea. District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney said he’s excited by the proposal.

“I think this is a very good idea, and what it’s going to do for our community is fantastic.”

District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she’s happy to see the group provided so many different options.

“I look forward to everyone coming together and finding a way forward with this.”

Councillors asked for a staff report on allowing the vehicles to use municipal roads. 

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Entrance to Trestle Trail from Bristol Ave. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens council heard a proposal that would allow off-highway vehicles to drive through downtown Liverpool.

At the July council meeting, members of the Queens County ATV Association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association came together to present the idea of allowing OHVs to travel along Hwy 3, down Bristol Ave, across the bridge where they would turn onto Henry Hensey Drive, crossing Main Street and continuing up Brunswick until vehicles connected with the Trestle Trail.

The idea is possible because of a recently passed piece of provincial legislation called the Road Trails Act which is intended to allow OHVs to cross short stretches of road to move from one off road trail to another.

The Act is not yet law but President of the Queens County ATV Association David White says the groups wanted to present the plan to council so they could hear and address any concerns before it comes into effect.

“This is an early-step process because that’s still not actually enacted but we’re trying to get all of our ducks in a row so when it hits the ground, we’re one of the people out front,” said White.

The new act says all riders are required to have a valid driver’s licence, insurance, registration and a licence plate, and vehicles may not go faster than 25 km/h.

Councillor David Brown was concerned about OHVs traveling along Bristol Ave where they would have to move in traffic along with other vehicles.

“I see in other places that it’s been a real financial boon to people. But it almost seems to me like going across Bristol instead of going across the Trestle trail, finance is trumping safety..” said Brown. “To me, it looks like using the Trestle Trail, cutting off by the Irving and not going across Bristol would be much safer for pedestrian traffic, for bicycles for people driving, for the people on the ATVs but we’re trying to force them through the town just because it’s finance and I have a little problem with that.”

White acknowledged the vehicles could travel along the Trestle Trail and avoid downtown Liverpool, but the idea is to bring riders closer to local businesses. He says while there are financial motives, safety must always come first.

“As for Bristol economic trade trumping safety, we would never see safety compromised. Safety is at the foremost of what we want,” said White.

The Queens County ATV Association president noted that locals are aware traffic often slows on Bristol Ave due to bicycles, public works, and other reasons and OHVs would be no more inconvenient for drivers.

Council decided to work with the two groups to further explore the potential plan and may look to form a working committee in the future.

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Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson

Discussions around changing the sidewalks on the Liverpool Town Bridge and updating the municipal phone answering service were a couple of items on the most recent Region of Queens Council meeting agenda.

The meeting started with a pair of presentations. The first was an update from Roswall, the company behind the Mersey River Wind Farm project.

The company has received several governmental approvals and held community information meetings. They are working towards completing development stage items and signing a lease for the Crown Land.

The second item was a joint presentation from the Queens County ATV Association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association. The two groups are looking for municipal support that would allow ATVs to travel along short sections of municipal roads as permitted by the recently announced Road Trails Act.

Council will discuss the request at a future meeting and will likely be bringing the idea forward to the public for feedback.

In the recommendations section council agreed to waive tipping fees for up to 10 metric tonnes or roughly $700 worth for a family who lost their home in a fire.

Council also agreed to spend $16,850 to install a new telephone answering service for the municipality. The Region has been unable to receive telephone messages for the past several weeks as the old system is no longer supported.

The parameters for a new seven-member police advisory board were also established. Councillors Brown and Hawkes along with Deputy Mayor Fancy will represent council. Community members will include Acadia First Nation Band Council member Andrew Francis and two others chosen from the public. The seventh member will be appointed by the province. Region of Queens is working towards having the new Police Advisory Board in place early in the fall.

Tenders for a new heating and ventilation system for the Liverpool Business Development Centre has come in $130,000 over budget. Council had approved spending $1.9 million in the 2023/24 budget. The only tender received came from Sea Coast HVAC at a total cost of $2.03 million. As it was the only bid, council approved spending the additional money to begin the work.

They also approved $446,200 to buy a new street sweeper from Saunders Equipment Ltd, of Fredericton NB.

A homeowner in Brooklyn requested municipal wastewater systems be extended to their property. Staff informed council it is not feasible at this time because of permitting issues from the province and the large number of projects they are already working on within the municipality.

Council also explored options for improving pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the Liverpool Town bridge. With four options ranging from $325,000 to refresh the existing layout to $4.4 million to move the lanes to the outside of the bridge, council opted to maintain what is in place now and keep an eye out for federal funding options in the future.

Finally, council went in-camera to discuss Nova Scotia Power’s request to install an EV charging station on municipal property in Liverpool, but no site was confirmed.

The next Region of Queens Council meeting will be held August 8 beginning at 9:00am in council chambers.

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Barry Barnet, executive director of ATVNS and Minister Kim Masland. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

Off road vehicles have found a home on the province’s highways following the introduction of the new Road Trails Act in the legislature Friday.

The new legislation will provide riders with improved trail connections and better access to services like gas stations and restaurants.

The act follows on the work of a pilot project that has been in place in seven communities across Nova Scotia since 2018.

Public Works Minister and MLA for Queens Kim Masland says the pilot demonstrated that roads can be safely shared by all.

“Five years, think about that. Most pilot projects are not for five years,” said Masland. “So, the data that was collected during that time, the stakeholder outreach, the relationships that were built, I don’t foresee any tremendous issues.”

Under the introduced act, riders travelling the highways are required to have a valid driver’s licence, insurance, registration, and a licence plate.

It will be up to each municipality to determine through their bylaws, on which roads they wish to allow off-highway vehicles.

Masland says she would like to see this effort extend across the province so people can enjoy the natural beauty Nova Scotia has to offer.

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