New On-Road ATV Routes Proposed in Superior

Some of the proposed routes are on East Fifth Street and Winter Street

SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Superior City Council is considering on-road routes for ATVs in the city.

Proposed routes through Superior would allow riders to access points in the city they couldn’t get to before on ATVs.

A map of the proposed on-road ATV routes are available on the city’s website.

They include East Fifth Street, Winter Street, North 58th Street, and Albany Avenue.

According to Mayor Jim Paine, the routes are planned for low traffic, low impact areas, but some neighborhoods could be impacted by the change.

He says some city councilors thought bringing ATVs into the city was a good way to increase tourism and business in Superior.

“Some folks, especially on the council, really wanted to see an increase in fun things to do on the weekend, maybe some more access to business so that those folks that are using ATVs out in the county, in the rural area, can come into Superior, have access to our hotels and restaurants,” said Mayor Paine.

Pete Gassert, owner of Duluth Lawn and Sport, thinks the proposal would be great for Superior residents and visitors.

He says similar ordinances have worked well for Minnesota cities.

“The city of Moose Lake embraced it and if you go down there on the weekends, they have a couple parking lots for ATVs and they’re just packed on the weekends, so it’s bringing business in, people come up and ride and they can ride through town, they can ride to restaurants, they can ride to the gas stations,” said Gasserty.

Saint Louis County allows ATVs on most of their county roads and Gassert says he would like to see Duluth officials consider a proposal in the future to allow ATVs on streets in some parts of Duluth.

As for the proposed Superior ordinance, Mayor Paine says the time is now for people to reach out to his office and to their councilors to voice their opinions about the proposal.

The Superior City Council is expected to discuss the ATV ordinance in their meeting on August 7th.