cuevélo

Give this a read.

https://www.mainelegislature.org/leg...7-asec402.html

GhostRider62

That is for criminal trespass. How one gives notice certainly varies from state to state. You can use purple paint. You can tell the person. You can have or should have a fence as the OP said. You can post with signs. You can have a rock wall. If there is a question of intent, courts decide. Maine has vast swaths of land owned by timber companies that many use for recreation. It also has a history of these remote private lands being used by the public.

In the situation given by the OP, there is a residential community bounded by two public roads. Cutting thru the private community is convenient. A "Private Property" sign is more than sufficient for me not to break the law. It is just that plain and simple, black and white to me. OP asked opinions, I think mine is very clear.

RoadKill

In Arizona it's illegal to use a private corner parking lot such as a gas station, as a cut through in your car to avoid having to wait at the light.
https://www.vanosteen.com/traffic/pr...%20devices.%22

It would surprise me if Arizona is the only place with such a law and I can't really see how this is any different compared to riding your bike through an apartment complex, but I doubt it's enforced.

rhm

I'm curious whether you can drive through it virtually, using Google Street View. I wonder if the Google driver took that short cut,,,,

Bigbus

I looked at a piece of property a few years back that sat on a corner with a school just a couple of blocks down the street in one direction and a convenience store just a block down the street in another direction. There was a well worn path from one corner of the property, alongside the house, and out the other corner of the property. I really liked the place, but after doing some research and discovering that I didn't have the right to put up a fence to prevent kids from cutting through the property I passed on it. If I'm not mistaken, it was covered under imminent domain or some such thing. Because it had been allowed for so many years it became part of the deal. Go figure. Not in my world.

cuevélo

I've found nothing in the Maine statutes that indicates that "Private Property" means "No Trespassing". I can't find anything other than "criminal trespass," at least pertaining to a person on a bike. I remain unconvinced that going on a road labeled as "private" is breaking the law.

RoadKill

https://legislature.maine.gov/statut...-Asec2057.html
11. Avoidance of traffic control device prohibited. An operator may not operate a motor vehicle through a parking area to avoid obeying or conforming to the requirements of a traffic control device.

It's possible that cutting through an apartment complex could get you a ticket in Maine depending on how an officer interprets this part of the Maine traffic code and if bicycles are supposed to follow the same laws as motor vehicles.

GhostRider62

Ok. Do as you wish. Who cares. Just stay off my lawn.

cuevélo

I think it's a stretch to apply this to bicyclists, when their goal is to go in a lower traffic area, not to avoid a traffic control device.

joinacult

It’s not trespassing until someone says, right?

Darth Lefty 

I might have mentioned previously in this thread that the apartment complex I sometimes ride through, I used to live in. So Irecognize that there were regular trash pickers that came through mostly pilfering the recycling for CRV but also grabbing anything else that was set out. People are moving in and out of apartments all the time and abandoning stuff, and parking it by the dumpster is the universal "this is ok but I can't be bothered to sell it" signal. Making me think of this, @rhm wrote in another thread today

Now how are you gonna find that stuff if you don't ride through?

Daniel4

Correct. It depends on the discretion of the property owner. I had described in my post (#46) one owner chose not to do anything and the other chose not to give access to a bike trail in the winter.

I think most of the time, the no trespassing signs were targetting drivers. If cyclists and pedestrians were to become a problem, then the property owners would start to do something about it.

dedhed

WI Statutes 943.13

(am) A person has received notice from the owner or occupant within the meaning of sub. (1m) (b), (e) or (f) if he or she has been notified personally, either orally or in writing, or if the land is posted. Land is considered to be posted under this paragraph under either of the following procedures:
1. If a sign at least 11 inches square is placed in at least 2 conspicuous places for every 40 acres to be protected. The sign must provide an appropriate notice and the name of the person giving the notice followed by the word “owner" if the person giving the notice is the holder of legal title to the land and by the word “occupant" if the person giving the notice is not the holder of legal title but is a lawful occupant of the land. Proof that appropriate signs as provided in this subdivision were erected or in existence upon the premises to be protected prior to the event complained of shall be prima facie proof that the premises to be protected were posted as provided in this subdivision.
2. If markings at least one foot long, including in a contrasting color the phrase “private land" and the name of the owner, are made in at least 2 conspicuous places for every 40 acres to be protected.

​​​​​​https://erc.cals.wisc.edu/woodlandin...7/09/G3326.pdf

​​​​​​https://www.wisbar.org/newspublicati...ArticleID=7969