GROVELAND, Fla. – What was once a quiet corner of South Lake County is now the site of a growing safety crisis, according to neighbors.
Residents living along Bay Lake Road, Empire Church Road, and Lake Erie Road in Groveland say their once-peaceful area has become a racetrack for reckless drivers and exotic cars.
The issue has escalated to the point where neighbors are capturing hair-raising footage of street racing and near-death encounters.
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Patrick Borsey was driving home from work on Good Friday last year when two cars came barreling toward him, side by side. They split at the last second, sparing Borsey’s life.
“Time froze,” he recalled. “I was just pumping the brakes and trying to hold the wheel steady.”
It’s a moment he’ll never forget - and one that highlights what many in the area say is a long-ignored public safety concern.
Bruce Waters, another Groveland resident, has had enough. His cameras captured the near-miss that nearly killed Borsey.
They’ve also caught weekend racers using Bay Lake Road like a drag strip. Waters says very few people drive under the speed limit: “If you’re doing 50 or 55, they’re mad at you.”
Some neighbors report losing side mirrors, tires, and rims from being run off the road by speeding traffic.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirms the issue is real and dangerous. Since 2020, there have been 67 crashes on the three rural roads combined. Seventeen of those crashes involved possible injuries.
The department has received 46 reckless driving complaints in that same timeframe. Deputies say they’ve made hundreds of traffic stops, but admit patrols are limited and drivers frequently ignore the posted speed limits.
Neighbors like April Jones, who lives off Empire Church Road, feel South Lake County has been left behind.
“We’ve been forgotten,” she said. The narrow backroads in the area have become unofficial detours as drivers try to avoid traffic congestion in downtown Groveland, putting even more pressure on infrastructure that wasn’t built for this kind of use.
County officials acknowledge the roads need work. The engineering director tells News 6 that resurfacing and widening Empire Church and Lake Erie roads would cost more than $3 million each.
With only about $8 million in road funding available across the entire county each year, it’s a tall order. However, the county does plan to upgrade both roads within the next five years.
Additionally, FDOT has a $30 million plan to build a bypass around Groveland, which could help reroute traffic and reduce the strain on these vulnerable roads, though that solution is also years away.