private roads

[Noli me tangere]

What is the name of your state?
Virginia.

We live in a rural development of approximately 6o+ lots, 2/3 of which are occupied and 1/3 unbuilt/absentee owners. The development was set up in 1959 and technically has only one dead-end ingress/egress point on a state road. The development is served by a network of ROWs, most undefined, including the main entry to the state road. This road is posted Private 'members and guests only', with several 15 mph 'speed limit' signs. The road is unimproved gravel. While the ROWs of landowners along the main road are all 50', the road itself is a roughly 20' use lane. There is no HOA and considerable resistance to the idea. For years the road was rough and lightly traveled by 'country folk' familiar with gravel roads; maintenance, snow plowing, etc. was all done on a voluntary basis by landowners. As more lots built out and new people moved in with higher expectations, newer vehicles, and 'city mindsets'. The demand to 'improve' the road increased. We now have residents, workmen, and guests driving 30+ mph due to widening, smoothing of curves, and regular grading of pot holes. Consequently the road is 'more dangerous' with the increased speed and landowners have been told by a lawyer that there are potential liability concerns if someone is injured.

The county will not take over the road. It is 'illegal' (more than 14 households on a dead-end road) and would require considerable improvements (widening, culverts, etc.). Some of the 'new people' have proposed forming a corporation of landowners who would then 'quit their interest' in the road, so that individuals could not be sued if there is injury. Some of the 'old people' maintain that the road should have some kind of 'traffic calming' measures such as potholes or speed bumps and that the speed limits should be qualified with something like 'Caution, Dangerous Road, 15 mph maximum'. The dissent within the neighborhood is quite ugly and lawyers consulted have come down on both sides. Objective outside POVs may have an 'out of the box' solution that we can't see. Help!What is the name of your state?