ACCOMACK COUNTY, Va. -- Neighbors say Saxis Road is treated like a dragstrip and it needs to stop. Accomack County is looking for answers, but county leaders said a solution will be very hard to come by.
Skid marks stain the asphalt on Saxis Road. Neighbors said the marks are just as common as the people who use the road as their own personal speedway.
"They just race up and down, back and forth," said Tracy Boggs.
Boggs, who lives on Saxis Road, said if she had to rate the speeding on a scale of 1-10, she would give it an eight. Her high rating stems from the stress it causes for neighbors.
"It makes it difficult for us to get in and out of our homes," said Boggs.
Now, speeding on Saxis Road is nothing new. In fact, one particular stretch of straightaway is so notorious for it, neighbors have dubbed it 'Long Road'.
"It's long, it's straight, there's no curves, it's very conducive to speeding, racing, motorcycles, fast cars, whatever," said Ron Wolff.
Wolff, District Two's Supervisor, said the county is well aware of the problem. So much so, he and the other supervisors are considering asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study. If that's the case, county officials will be heading down a familiar road.
Wolff said a few years back, an officer with Virginia State Police, along with the Accomack County Sheriff's Office and the Board of Supervisors did do a traffic study. The results were lackluster.
"Again this was 5, 6 years ago, nothing was done," said Wolff. "So you know now the issue is still very prevalent," said Wolff.
If you asked Dora Spady, who also lives on Saxis Road about the prevalence of speeding, she would more likely than not meet your question with an eye roll and a sigh.
"It has been to the point where I've been coming in from the highway from 13 trying to get home and they be racing and they will literally stop the traffic and be standing in the road," said Spady. "Nobody can come through until after they move."
The issue has gone off-road as well. Motorcyclists will use the driveway that wraps around Spady's home as a turnaround.
"Not only motorcycle noise and the racing noise out on the road, but then you got it coming around your house going *engine revving noises*," said Spady.
Spady has tried to legal route, but said speeding on Saxis is inevitable.
"We've had the cops come out several times and once the cops come out, it stops, once the cops leave it starts back," said Spady.
Because the road is in such a rural location, Wolff said solutions are limited.
"A stop sign, a red light is not going to work, I think the only thing that would work is heavy police presence," said Wolff.
Still, the town is going to look into initiating a traffic study. For that to happen, the Board of Supervisors would need to approve it through a vote. It would then be sent to VDOT.
Wolff said he expects Saxis Road to be discussed at their board meeting on Wednesday, June 21st. The meeting could end with a vote for VDOT to conduct a traffic study.