Should snowmobiles be street legal?

Should you be able to drive a snowmobile down a City street?

Some politicians in the Michigan Soo think so, and they're pushing for a new municipal policy to allow it.

Tonight's edition of the Soo Evening News reports that a public hearing will be held February 23 as a first step toward developing the new policy.

In Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, snowmobiles are prohibited on many City streets.

To see a map showing where you can and can't drive your machine within the City limits, please click here. (Hint: you'll want to use your browser's horizontal and vertical scroll buttons to see the entire image.)

Back in the Michigan Soo, City Commissioner Dale Hoornstra says most any snowmobile you can buy these days generates less than 85 decibels of noise, and it's time to allow snowmobiles back on the streets.

But others, including Commissioner Verna Lawrence, say the last time the machines were made street legal "all hell broke loose."

Hoornstra says the Sault Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is backing the idea.

To read tonight's Soo Evening News coverage, please click here.