Park committee declines to pursue ATV/UTV authorization for White River State Trail

The Park Committee reviewed a request to add ATV/UTV access to the White River State Trail and discussed DNR procedures for changing a state trail's master plan. Staff noted the trail's narrow alignment, multiple water crossings and an existing maintenance backlog.

"It's pretty narrow. It's pretty channeled by trees, a lot of water bodies on left and right, 5 bridges along it," the parks planner said, describing safety and maintenance constraints that weigh against multimodal conversion. Staff also noted that while multimodal designation can unlock more grant funding, costs to upgrade and maintain the trail for heavier use would be substantially higher than current snowmobile grants.

A motion was made to not pursue state authorization for UTVs/ATVs at this time—subject to reconsideration if the Public Works Committee votes in favor of pursuing it. The motion was seconded and carried. The committee did not direct staff to prepare design or construction work tied to multimodal conversion at this meeting.

Committee members discussed alternatives, including deferring further action until Public Works and DNR master-planning windows are complete and noting that a formal resolution to DNR would be the appropriate route if the committee later chooses to pursue multimodal access.