PENDLETON, N.Y. (WKBW) — Years of ATV riding on the town-run Pendleton Rail Trail will soon come to an end, after the town board voted to close the off-roading side of the trail to all ATVs.
The Pendleton Rail Trail runs diagonally across the Town of Pendleton from Townline Road to Lockport Road. Along the trail, there is a paved bike/walking path that runs alongside a heavily used ATV trail. Only residents who own passes are permitted to use the trail.
WATCH: ‘Don’t have any other options’: Pendleton votes to close town ATV trail
Pendleton Supervisor Joel Maerten tells me that the closure will take effect once the new law is filed/approved by New York State and signage is posted on the trail.
Once in place, Maerten said that the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office will be in charge of enforcement and that violators will both receive a fine and have their vehicle towed.
“A lot of people enjoy it, we don’t want to say no. We just want to see it happen safely, and at the moment, we don’t have any other options but to turn it off,” Maerten said. “You cannot find another town, municipality or county anywhere within a great distance of here that operates an ATV trail, and there’s a reason. That reason is the liability associated with it.”
I spoke with neighbors who disagree with Maerten’s stance on closing the trail. Mike Forester, a neighbor just off the trail, told me that he moved to his house in Pendleton partly for its proximity to the trail.
“[At the meeting], they kept saying ‘liability.’ Well, what is the liability? ‘Well, it’s a liability to the town,'” Forester said. “If you’re going to keep the trail [open for runners/bikers], somebody could go off the edge of the trail on a bicycle and break a leg, so I don’t see where that argument of liability has any merit.”
Just outside of Pendleton, Bob Weaver, who owns the off-roading dealership Bob Weaver Motorsports, told me that he worries closing the trails would only force riders to unsafe areas.
“If they’re not going to be riding on trails, they are going to be riding on the streets,” Weaver said. “Riding on the road is the most dangerous thing, especially on a dirt bike or any vehicle not made for road use. It doesn’t have the right brakes. It doesn’t have the right tires. It doesn’t have turn signals, headlights, taillights. It shouldn’t be on the road at all. It needs to be off-road. That’s what it was designed and built for…. We spend money on trails for bicycles, but we don’t have any trails for off-road vehicles. It’s a shame.”
Weaver also told me that he hopes the town will reconsider its decision in the future.
Maerten told me he’s open to ideas on how to reopen the trail, but that he also feels that riders had ample time to help find an alternative solution. He told me this is the third time in the past several years that this issue has been spoken about by the town board.
“I’m open to some ideas, but if people want to see it come back, we need to see some real commitment to collaborating with the town,” Maerten.
