The Essex County ATV Club is continuing its' push for a trail system stretching from Amherstburg to Leamington.
The club has been visiting area municipalities seeking a bylaw change to permit all-terrain vehicles on roads, which would allow riders to travel between the existing trails.
Club president Shaun Ellenberger says without a proper trail network in place, people are going elsewhere to ride.
"Wasaga Beach, for an example, you can literally ride anywhere you want in that township," he says. "People are still going to ride their ATVs, I'd rather see them do it legally and self-police by knowing that if you see somebody doing something wrong, you let them know because they might mess it up for everybody else."
Ellenberger says they're not asking for a free-for-all, just limited access to a handful of roads.
"We're constantly looking for private properties that have bush or trail systems that we can maintain and control," he says. "Then we have to have a way to get to one another. So that's what the ATV bylaw really is, is allowing access to get from point A to point B with different trail systems."
Essex County ATV Club President Shaun Ellenberger (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He also believes there's an opportunity to bring tourism to the region.
"We started out with Tourism Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island because we thought that if we can pull the tourism aspect of it then it's a little easier for municipalities to realize the economic benefit of it. They suggested get the routes in place and they'll back us 100%," says Ellenberger.
The club made a presentation at Lakeshore Council Tuesday — council agreed to have administration put together a report on making a bylaw change.
The club visited Amherstburg late last year and Ellenberger says they'll continue to lobby other municipalities in the coming months.