Miners Castle Snowmobile Trail 422 Closure

[frnash]

… This will get really interesting if the ACRC tries to enforce this trail closure since snowmobiles are allowed anywhere along H-58 just so long as they are off of the roadway itself. You can legally ride the side of H-58 all the way to the Bear Trap and beyond …

I don't think so! As I mentioned in an earlier post:

Consider this excerpt from the (click →) Michigan Snowmobile Regulations (PDF) the Alger County's "gotcha" as relates to the portion of trail 442 as lies along county highway H58?:

A Snowmobile May Operate on a Public Highway Under the Following Conditions:
…
• Snowmobiles may be operated on the shoulder of an open county roadway or its right-of-way, outside the corporate limits of a city or village, which is designated and marked for snowmobile use by the county road commission having jurisdiction.

It seems clear to me that if they pull the Alger County Road Commission's "designation and marking" by removing the trail signage along that section (and moreover, if they specifically post trail closure signs), then NO you can NOT "legally ride the side of H-58"! (Of course I'm no lawyer.)

Note the sample "Snowmobiles" county road sign in the Michigan Snowmobile Regulations (link above) as reads:

"Lets riders know if a county allows operation in the right-of-ways [sic] or on the shoulders of county roads."

The operative word is "if"! (Am I beating a dead horse here?)

 

[buddah2]

O.K., maybe I didn't make it clear (and seeing that you don't live here) it is CLEARLY marked at both ends of H-58 that ALL roads in Alger county are legal to ride so long as you are not on the right-of-way unless crossing a bridge. H-58 runs from just off of downtown Munising all the way to Grand Marais, a distance of approximately 50 miles.....ALL of it in Alger county and ALL of it legal to ride......it happens to be unplowed from an area know as four corners the rest of the way to Grand Marais (approximately 25 or so mi.).......what they "removed" was allowing groomer access to that 2000+ foot section of road in question and the marked trail designation for that section and that section ONLY.........

 

[frnash]

O.K., maybe I didn't make it clear (and seeing that you don't live here) it is CLEARLY marked at both ends of H-58 that ALL roads in Alger county are legal to ride …

Fair enuf, since I couldn't exactly be there to see the signs. Thanks for the clarification.

Of course if the ACRC wanted to be a bunch o' badasses, all they'd have to do is remove those signs (or replace 'em with "Snomobiles prohibited" signs).

From WLUC:

"A popular snowmobile trail in Alger County is closed for the season."

From the DNR Press Release:

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that, effective immediately, Snowmobile Trail No. 422 from Trail No. 8 to Miners Castle – near Munising in Alger County – will be closed for the 2016 season.

Permission to use a portion of Alger County Highway 58 (H-58) as groomed trail to access Miners Castle was not granted this season by the Alger County Road Commission.

That sounds pretty definitive to me. Just piss-poor reporting on the part of both WLUC and DNR?

(Perhaps the ACRC has decided to close that portion of the trail, but just hasn't gotten around to implementing the signage changes yet?)

But of course you're much closer to the "scene of the crime" than I. So no argument from me.

 

[buddah2]

...... Just piss-poor reporting on the part of both WLUC and DNR?

BINGO!!! That's what I've been bi*ching about since the get-go.......and the signs I mentioned are not just on H-58, they are on pretty much every road in the entire county EXCEPT M-28.......state and US routes are exempted......

 

[snobuilder]

The whole thing stinks. From the lack of road damage as is evident in the youtube video to cherry picking this one very popular trail out of the hundreds of miles and hold it hostage. Groomers, including metal cleated ones have been running on portions of the alger co. roadways for decades.
If metal cleated machinery is now banned from their co. roadways then they must be consistent about it and treat ALL machinery on ALL roadways the same way IMO and create a statute that states as much. If not, then there is NO such statute or stipulation and the groomers should be allowed no matter if they caused any damage or not.


If this power they are attempting to use is left stand then what stops them from closing EVERY trail in the Co. based on the fact that eventually ALL trails either cross or run the shoulder of the roadways they manage in Alger co. and they could easily point out some sort of pavement damage, no matter how big or small, in every location.

Call their bluff....close them all or none at all!

In this case the groomer is simply using a portion of H 58 to transport the drag. I believe that under the MI DOT rules, the grooomer falls into the class of a Slow Moving Vehicle.

 

[buddah2]

....In this case the groomer is simply using a portion of H 58 to transport the drag. I believe that under the MI DOT rules, the grooomer falls into the class of a Slow Moving Vehicle.

Not true at all.....the groomed trail actually ran on H-58 for roughly 1/2 mi........the portion of the trail then runs from Trail 8 runs into H-58 approx 3/4 miles EAST of the road to Miner's Castle.......the groomed trail covered 1/2 mile of that and then went off into the woods to the north for a short distance before coming out on the road (unplowed) that runs from H-58 to the Miner's Castle overlook itself........

Bottom line: they actually did groom (or tried to groom) whatever snow they could get on that 1/2 mi. section of H-58....that is what will not be allowed for this season......

 

[snobuilder]

100's of feet of that 2000' is guardrail and like someone else said the plow guy hates sledders. I can't recall seeing much groomed on that stretch in past few years. And if it was groomed that portion would be in the ditch and not on the pavement = less so called damage.

 

[russholio]

And according to the ACRC, logging trucks are frequent users of that road. I don't suppose there's any chance that they could be contributing to the damage?

 

[Pizza Man]

From the first time we went to Munising to snowmobile in 1980, we have ridden H-58 from the Beartrap to Indian town road.
It was a short cut to Wetmore.
Is this off limits now??
If it is, I assume it's just like when they closed the road from Beartrap to Shingleton. That I heard was due to all the people living on that road.
Oh well, maybe they will have it all figured out by the first of the year.

 

[buddah2]

Is this off limits now??

Not at all......BUT the ACRC does plow that sucker as absolutely bare as they can get it and they (purposely?) push the banks as far off the road as the blades will reach.......

As to H-15 (road from Shingleton to the Bear Trap).......it was already closed to sleds by the time we moved here but the story I kept hearing was it was due to drunks racing all hours of the night down the middle of the road.....that and several pets getting run over, whether intentional or not we'll never know......so we (sledders) kinda brought it on ourselves, eh?

 

[Pizza Man]

I'll agree to the racing on H-15 back then as we were doing it too.
Young and foolish!!
One year we rode all the way from Seney to the Hillcrest on M-28 due to getting caught in a snowstorm.

 

[prunedog75]

I think it should be noted that there are a ton of rumors about a resolution flying around Alger County. The only information that I have gotten so far is that the MSA, the visitors bureau, and local businesses are working on a sit down between everybody at an attempt to get it hashed out! I'll try to post as more info becomes available.

 

[buddah2]

I think it should be noted that there are a ton of rumors about a resolution flying around Alger County. The only information that I have gotten so far is that the MSA, the visitors bureau, and local businesses are working on a sit down between everybody at an attempt to get it hashed out! I'll try to post as more info becomes available.

I'm genuinely curious where you heard all that from......I've been in every single HTA meeting since Sept. and as far as I know there is a total impasse and the only possible solution is a re-route?????

 

[snocrazy]

Rumors are Rumors. Not always correct. Lots of people talking about it for sure.

 

[prunedog75]

I'm genuinely curious where you heard all that from......I've been in every single HTA meeting since Sept. and as far as I know there is a total impasse and the only possible solution is a re-route?????

Re-route is still the long term solution from what I hear, however I did hear that a possible solution for just this year is being talked about. As far as the communication between businesses and the ACRC, that is happening tomorrow, and I heard that straight from the visitors bureau.

 

[snobuilder]

C of C members stand to lose the most if the county and MI DNR continue their pissing contest....lots o tourism money at stake here.

I love the Munising area but could easily stay away and teach the puffy chested idiots a lesson by taking my $2000.00+ elsewhere....chit,...I'd be perfectly happy staying in my own state.

 

[prunedog75]

I Totally Understand that train of thinking and am glad that changes have been made so we as riders can at least see if there is results..... sadly though leaving won't teach the "puffy chested idiots" anything as you stated it will kill off local businesses/jobs and so forth. But the acrc guys are going to be in place til they retire.

 

[Go Fast or Go Home]

Keep this in mind---The Alger County Commissioners (elected) appoint the Road Commission members and as such can remove them.

Pressure (more) also needs to put on the Alger County Commissioners. They can be removed from office by recall if concerned residents get involved.

 

[snobuilder]

I Totally Understand that train of thinking
and am glad that changes have been made so we as riders can at least see if there is results..... sadly though leaving won't teach the "puffy chested idiots" anything as you stated it will kill off local businesses/jobs and so forth. But the acrc guys are going to be in place til they retire.

In bold????what do you mean?

Empty motel rooms in an otherwise thriving winter tourism economy wouldn't bother the ACRC board?...OK so I guess my use of the term idiots was way understated. Those lost jobs and businesses would affect everyone in one way or another.

I don't call for others to boycott anything. I only control my own dollars. Everyone needs to decide how serious or trivial this is on their own. I happen to think it could be the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

Seriously?....a million dollar industry is being soured by a $5900 road repair issue?,...doesn't make sense to me....just a guesstimate but I'd say 6 sledders bring that kind of money into the Munising area on an annual basis.

 

[prunedog75]

In bold????what do you mean?

I mean as far as the rest of the negativity when it comes to the terrible trails and ridiculous rule enforcement that has plagued Alger County in years passed.

And to go a bit further, with the bad snow year, local businesses are already struggling, and involved in an effort to get this fixed for at least the time being, but negative press and people's generalized opinions do not just quickly wear off, the effect on the businesses will certainly be quicker than the effect on the members/board at the road commission. So I guess my plea for people is to understand that the riders that come to Alger County are not the only ones frustrated, and we are doing everything possible to make a positive change. Hopefully by the end of the meeting today we will see some type of result and when I hear it I will pass it along here.