Black River Falls Downtown Association Proposing to Open All Streets to ATV/UTV Traffic

Monday, April 19th, 2021 -- 8:00 AM

The Black River Falls Downtown Association is proposing to open all of Black River Falls’ streets to ATV traffic.

In a proposal written to the Black River Falls Common Council, they stated “this Council has had the foresight to adopt an ordinance to allow for UTV/ATV traffic in the city limits already to promote tourism and economic growth in our City."

"You already have the foundation in place and allow for regulated movement of recreational vehicles (Ordinance 7.14 and 7.20).  As all of you are very well aware, the UTV and ATV industry has rapidly taken off and is the backbone of recreation and tourism in our area of the State."

"The Jackson County Forestry and Parks Department and the State of Wisconsin have worked hard to grow this industry in Jackson County. A lot of money has been spent on the creation of the two tunnels under State Highway 54 to allow UTV/ATV traffic on the south side of I-94."

"An Economic Impact statement from 2016 indicates Jackson County that the recreational vehicle industry has a 7.7+ million dollar impact on Jackson County. We can all safely assume that has not gone down 5 years later."

"The State Department of Tourism web page indicates that over 35 million dollars in direct visitor spending annually in Jackson County from tourism in 2019."

"We all can tell from this statistical data that tourism and recreational vehicles help our community generate vital income needed by our businesses to stay open and grow. This also provides additional economic development opportunities for future businesses looking to move into our downtown area. We all can agree a viable downtown is the core of any city and our city is no different.”

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.