Ottawa Police do monitor the Trans Canada Trail for illegal snowmobiles, but they say enforcement of the rules is a challenge.
Reader Patrick Publow recently contacted us about his concerns with snowmobiles on the Trans Canada Trail. They’re not permitted on the trail, and city councillor Shad Qadri recently asked residents to report any sightings to the police.
“The snowmobilers don’t affect me personally as I don’t live on the trail,” wrote Publow in an email to StittsvilleCentral.ca. “In our previous home, they used to ride across our lawn parallel to the street. And there were always snow mobile tracks on the paths in Bell Park which made me nervous walking there in the winter time with our dog. So I do find it irritating the way they flaunt the laws and potentially people’s safety. ”
Publow noted that snowmobilers are able to easily access the trail eastward off West Ridge because they can just drive around the small bar/gate at the entrance.
“I wonder if it might be possible, for the winter months so as not to overly obstruct bikes in the summer, to have a longer and more effective gate installed,” asked Publow in a letter to city councillor Shad Qadri.
(A few winters ago we used to have a neighbour who regularly drove his snowmobile across Bandmaster Park, in the middle of the Fairwinds subdivision. I’ve seen several comments on Twitter this winter about snowmobile sightings around Stittsville. So it’s definitely not just an issue on the Trans Canada Trail.)
I was curious about what enforcement was being done by the Ottawa police, and if they had actually ever charged anyone with driving illegally on the Trans Canada Trial. Here’s the response I received from Constable Lori Fahey, Community Police Centre Officer for Kanata/Stittsville:
“Monitoring and enforcing activity on the trail can be challenging and it was undertaken by two of our specialty units and our general Patrol Officers (for their attention as resources allowed). The original complaint was forwarded to members of the Marine, Dive and Trail unit and their responsibilities include ongoing attention to the area on their snowmachines. The complaint was also sent to our West District Traffic Enforcement team for their follow up and they have been frequenting the area of the Trail near West Ridge where the use of the Trail by Snow machines becomes prohibited.
I have sent a request to the teams for their input, but at this time, I do not have any stats for enforcement.”
Are snowmobiles a problem in your area of Stittsville? Tell us about it in the comments below or email feedback@stittsvillecentral.ca
Meanwhile in Stittsville… Dog walking accompanied by snowmobiles. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/IOSGGP7976
— Nessie (@the_cheeky_ness) February 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/EdBrown19/status/567489576529584128
https://twitter.com/EdBrown19/status/567498741746126848
https://twitter.com/MRLS5H3/status/567490270108090368
https://twitter.com/kylewilson225/status/567490646060310528
@StittsCentral as long as they stay west of Westridge on the Trail and people drive responsibly, I'm fine with it.
— Stef Hosick (@sthosick) February 17, 2015