ACTUAL I TÉ • NEWS
Transport minister meets with mayors
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
various types of ORV traffic, ranging from ATVs to utility vehicles (UTEs), provided riders obey regular traffic rules and also mandatory safety rules for ATV use includ- ing wearing helmets and using either seat belts or foot pedals. There will be a three-month public aware- ness and education period over the summer for local ATV clubs and other organizations to both inform their members about the regulation changes and also adapt their own ATV traffic monitoring and enforcement programs to deal with the expected need for increased monitoring of local traffic to reduce the chance of accidents involving ATVs along provincial highways. The legislation also allows for the possible use of municipal public road shoulders for ATV traffic. Municipalities will have time to make any changes deemed necessary to their own bylaws to allow for ATV traffic along any roads within their jurisdictions. Clarence-Rockland Mayor Guy Desjar- dins indicated he is open to the idea of allow- ingmore access to public roads to ATV traffic to help boost the local tourismeconomy. But he said that he and his council and admin- istration will wait first for the local ATV club and the ATV business sector to get together and make a presentation of what kind of access, including what specific routes, they would like for ATV users. “It’s up to them to bring it forward,” Des- jardins said. “They know what they want.”
Ontario’s Minister of Transportation Ste- ven Del Duca braved a torrential summer rainstorm Monday to get to the City of Clarence-Rockland for a pair of back-to- back meetings of local interest. The newest addition to theWynne Liberal cabinet met with several mayors and other officials of the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR) June 8 in a closed session at the River Rock Inn.The topic for discussion was County Road 17, which was a provincial highway until the Harris-Eaves Progressive Conservative government downloaded it onto the counties. The road is now the sub- ject of an environmental assessment study for possible future expansion to four-lane status. «Today is a chance for me to hear again on the needs for the region,» said Del Duca, «and once again, to get it right.» The latest update on the environmental assessment process (EAP) for the County Road 17/Highway 174 improvement proj- ect calls for changing the present two-lane link between Rockland and Orléans to a four-lane highway, and the current four- lane section of Highway 174 from the Trim Road intersection to the Innes Road “Split” to six-lane status. Del Duca’s Monday closed-door meeting was just with counties officials and mayors
Transport Minister StevenDel Duca (right) chats with Clarence-RocklandMayor Guy Desjardins and city administrator Helen Collier.
of Prescott-Russell communities located along County Road 17. A future meeting with City of Ottawa officials about the four- laning project and other transportation is- sues key to that municipality will take place at a later date. «It’s all a continuing discussion on how best tomove forward on the transportation needs for this region,» Del Duca said, add- ing that theWynne government now has its 10-year Moving Forward plan to help guide
future highway infrastructure improvements for Ontario. Prior to theMonday closed-door meeting with local mayors, there was a public press conference for the minister at Rockland Wheels, a local dealer and service outlet for ATVs and other types of off-road vehicles (ORV), concerning changes to the provincial traffic regulations dealing with ORVs. Start- ing in July, the right-of-way of provincial highways in rural regions will be open to
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