OAK RIDGE, N.C. — Oak Ridge is known as a peaceful and quiet place - except for Haw River Road.
"There's constantly cars going," said neighbor Rachel Sherman. "It's only gotten busier."
As more homes are being built in the area, more drivers use the road to cut through to the highway.
"There are curves, but there's mostly straightaways, so cars are just going really fast," Sherman said. "It's just a recipe for disaster."
A car crash on Halloween on the road left one young teenager dead and another injured. The crash happened less than a mile away from one that happened three years ago and killed an 11-year-old boy.
"Our hearts are all broken," said Oak Ridge Mayor Ann Schneider.
Schneider said she is also concerned about Haw River Road.
"What was once kind of a country highway is now the spine of a whole assortment of residential neighborhoods," she said.
Pushing for road improvements:
She said the state owns the road, not the town.
"That means we have to go to the North Carolina Department of Transportation and ask them to come up with some solutions for us," she said.
One option, dropping the speed limit. It's currently 45 miles per hour - 10 miles faster than most of the town roads through neighborhoods.
"We need a way to slow the traffic. Make it safer. And make it more appropriate to the residential area it has become," said Schneider.
Neighbors have other ideas.
"I'd like to see one of those blinking speedometer-type things," said Sherman. "That would be super helpful. Also just more speed limit signs and possibly lighting up the road if it can be. There's no error in trying to be safer for kids."
NCDOT to conduct a report:
A representative for the North Carolina Department of Transportation shared this statement with us:
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of the young girl killed in this tragedy. As safety is our top priority, our traffic unit will be looking into roadway conditions after we have an official report from law enforcement to determine if there is opportunity to improve the safety for all road users in this area. We will make our preliminary findings available after we conclude our investigation."