HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- The congregation at one East End church says they are dealing with a frustrating problem and are trying to figure out how to stop it from getting worse.
Church members at Seven Pines Baptist Church reached out to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers about drivers trespassing on their church grounds.
"Yes, the curb is right there. They just come on up, knock down the fence and go on out," church trustee Patricia Dabney explained at her East Williamsburg Road church.
The longtime church member showed CBS 6 first-hand what they're dealing with.
She says people driving on Old Williamsburg Road hoping to connect to East Williamsburg Road find themselves at a dead end.
Though the two streets are just yards apart, drivers can't get from one road to the next. Instead, Dabney says drivers literally plow across the church's front yard to get to East Williamsburg Road, paying no mind to a chain link barrier that is up near the edge of the road.
"Now here, we have had to replace this chain barrier three or four times because the drivers will just run through the fence," Dabney explained.
It doesn't end there. Dabney said drivers also cut through the church's back parking lot and run into a gate that is padlocked.
To get around that gate, the drivers plow across the church cemetery coming dangerously close to graves there.
"It hurts my heart. You don't want to see your loved one being disturbed like that, having a possibility of someone driving and knocking down tombstones," Dabney said.
Church members called the CBS 6 Problem Solvers asking us to get the county's attention.
"I don't think that the county would open this road up, but we do need to have some dead-end signs," Dabney said.
CBS 6 reached out to the Henrico Public Works department. The assistant director told CBS 6 Problem Solvers he plans to connect with church leaders. He also said he would go out to the church and get a first-hand look.
The county will also install a "No Outlet" sign on the other end of Old Williamsburg Road near Whiteside Road to give drivers ample warning to turn around before they get near the church.
The sign should go up in the coming days.
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