ATV riders 'ecstatic' about opening of 12 km of pilot trails in eastern P.E.I.

All-terrain vehicle riders on P.E.I. are now one step closer to having a provincewide trail network, thanks to four new pilot roads in the southeastern end of the Island.

The Eastern Kings ATV Club recently earned provincial approval to use 12 kilometres of new trail in the Bellevue and Caledonia areas. 

They're the first pilot roads to be approved for the eastern portion of the province. 

"Every one of these is a win for me. It's a lot of hard work," Peter Mellish, executive director of the P.E.I. ATV Federation, said when he met a CBC News team at the site this week. "It's kind of cool because I brought my side-by-side today to go for a drive on it, legally, for the first time." 

The opening of the eastern pilot roads means riders now have access to about 77 kilometres of dedicated trails across the Island. 

There are hundreds of kilometres of ATV trails around the province, but piecing them all together into a tip-to-tip network can be tricky. 

The province requires that the pilot trails be on dirt roads, with low traffic volume and no potential environmental concerns. The federation also has to work with landowners in those areas to ensure riders can get on and off the roads without issues. 

"The primary factor that we do have to look at is safety," said Ernie Hudson, P.E.I.'s transportation minister. "I would have to say that it's resulted in a positive movement, a great relationship with the ATV federation in working with them towards… the ultimate goal of a tip-to-tip trail." 

An Island-wide system has been the goal for years. The federation had previously pushed to have riders be allowed to use the Confederation Trail, which also runs from one end of the Island to the other.  

But the idea received pushback during public consultations, with some concerns that the presence of ATVs would be too dangerous for the pedestrians and cyclists who currently use the trail. 

In order to use the pilot roads — which are shared with other cars, trucks and farm equipment — ATV drivers have to pay an annual $50 registration fee, while being subject to the same rules and regulations as any other road user. 

The federation will use a portion of the fees to help build and maintain its eventual provincewide network. 

Mellish said the next goal is to have more pilot trails open in the Souris area. Five other clubs have trail projects in mind after that. 

"At the end of the day, this is going to be our Confederation Trail, having these pilot roads," he said. "We're going to create our own experience and our own trail independently of the others. So yeah, we're ecstatic."