Quote:
Originally Posted by winnipiseogee
Respectfully Jetskier, here is what I am struggling with - The residents of Paugus Bay Park, Southdown, Longbay and the owners of the marinas all own property that abuts a public right of way. But they don't want the public on that right of way. They want them somewhere else. Somewhere not next to them.
Its like buying a house next to a park and then arguing that the park should be closed so that you don't heave to deal with people next to your house. Am I missing something here?
I understand why the railroad owners have a strong argument that their businesses shouldn't be harmed.
I'm just learning about the WOW trail so I will fully admit I may be ignorant of some important facts. What am I missing here?
Also I'm just thinking about the snowmobilers. Is it that the snowmobilers use the rails in the winter as part of their trail network and don't want other uses of the trails? It doesn't seem fair to limit recreational use of a public right of way to a single type of use.
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Hi winnipiseogee,
The current Railroad ROW is not a public ROW, it is a state ROW established by a taking
for the purpose of RR use. As I previously stated, this occurred when B&M was having financial issues and the state stepped in. The notion that this is an unrestricted public right of way is flat out wrong.
The current WOW trail (and federal) funding stipulates that the trail is for unmotorized use only. This is currently part of the state snowmobile trail system and the trail/snowmobile trail is a conflict in use the way things are set up.
Jetskier
