Transportation officials consider asking for halt to Dunleavy snowmachine/ATV regulations

Engineers and others with expertise in transportation in Fairbanks may ask the Dunleavy administration to halt its plan to allow snowmachines and ATVs on roads with speed limits of 45 mph or slower.

The proposal is to withdraw the proposed Dunleavy regulations until a working group can be established to review the matter in a “comprehensive and equitable manner that maintains the safety of the traveling public.”

The 6-page draft letter is a good one that raises important questions about licensing, safety and what it means to make vehicles “street legal.”

The regulations proposed by Dunleavy would generate confusion as they conflict with other parts of state law and regulation.

For instance, the Division of Motor Vehicles says existing regulation “requires” that anyone operating a snowmachine or ATV on state roads has to have a license. However, an existing state law says that operators of snowmachines and offroad vehicles are exempt from the license requirement.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has this document on its website, which says driver’s licenses are not required for snowmachines.

The draft document is to be reviewed by a technical committee Wednesday and later by the policy board of the Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation agency.

The former commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, Amanda Price, said that department officials opposed the Dunleavy plan and called for changes, but the governor refused.

The Dunleavy administration appears to have done no analysis on its plan. Price said she believes that the changes were requested by a campaign donor or a friend of the governor.