Rainy River passes new snowmobile bylaw

Rainy River regained its snowmobile bylaw when town council held a special meeting Monday morning to pass a revamped one.
The new bylaw (#1381-01) prohibits the driving of motorized snow vehicles (snowmobiles) on sidewalks or pathways specifically designated for pedestrians.
It also changes the areas in Rainy River that snowmobiles can travel on, and allows travel on undesignated streets only to and from designated routes from people’s homes.
Any infractions of the bylaw carry a $100 fine.
Coun. Lance Lindal asked if the new bylaw will prevent people from travelling from their home to a friend’s home. Mayor Gord Prost said the intent of the bylaw is to not allow the use of snowmobiles in town.
Lindal asked if that was the case before under the old bylaw and Coun. Glen Armstrong said yes.
But the old bylaw allowed travel on all streets in Rainy River except Fourth Street, which snowmobilers were only allowed to cross.
The new bylaw allows snowmobilers to access the Rainy River and area snowmobile club trails through designated routes. They include Broadway Avenue from Canada Customs to Government Road (east-west direction).
From Broadway, the 100 and 200 blocks of 6th St. (north-south direction) will be main route to and from the Rainy River. Mill Avenue from 6th to Little Street (east-west direction) is another cross-town route.
The 100 block of 2nd Street will be another river access route, as will the ditch from the corner of Little Street and River Avenue East.
Little Street will facilitate traffic northward from the river (or vice versa) to a point just south of Highway 11 behind the homes on the south side of the highway.
Traffic then will be able to travel in or out of the east side of town that way. The Broadway Avenue cross-town route will allow north and south travel on Government Road to and from the local snowmobile club’s trail network.
Coun. Larry Armstrong said the main reason for the bylaw is to ensure the safe operation of snowmobiles in town. Mayor Prost echoed his sentiments.
Once the bylaw was read the required number of times, the mayor called for a vote.
Couns. Glen Armstrong, Larry Armstrong, Dennis Ewald, and Gerry Marchuk voted for it. Coun. Lindal abstained, saying he did not feel the bylaw was written well.
Coun. Brent Anderson was absent from the meeting.