DIXFIELD — An ATV access route that has been shut down for months is open and available to use again, police Chief Richard Pickett said in a statement Thursday evening.

With snowmobile season about to begin, Pickett said he wished to remind snowmobile, ATV and dirt bike riders to use “common sense” when riding.

“That includes using the trails that we’ve designated as the ATV access routes,” Pickett said.

Pickett said that a resident recently approached the Dixfield Police Department about an ATV that had failed to abide by the prohibited areas law and had been driving through a “gully” that he considered dangerous.

“We want people to know that we take these kinds of things very seriously,” Pickett said. “We also want to point out that we recognize sections of that road are dangerous for ATV and snowmobile use. That’s why it’s against the law to ride on them.”

Pickett pointed out a section of the town’s ordinance that states that the operation of ATVs and dirt bikes registered as ATVs on Main Street from the Mexico town line to the Canton Point Road intersection, and on Weld Street from its intersection with Main Street to Averill Hill Road is strictly prohibited.

“A few months back, we had to shut down one of the designated ATV access routes due to a litigation between the two landowners whose land the trail passed through,” Pickett said. “I can understand that people are likely used to using the side of the road on Route 142, but the ATV access route is back up. We want people to know to use that.”

Pickett added that the Dixfield Police Department “takes that law seriously” and that they will be increasing their patrols in that area to make sure people adhere to the law.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com