A resident in Volusia County's Quail Roost Ranches neighborhood is begging for help from the county after years of rainstorms have made their roads dangerous to drive on.

What You Need To Know

  • Quail Roost Ranches resident Jennifer Coulon says her neighborhood needs Volusia County’s help to address the poor condition of dirt roads and ditches

  • Coulon said some utility and delivery vehicles won’t even attempt to go down the roads

  • Volusia County officials say the roads and ditches are private, so it’s up to property owners to maintain them

Jennifer Coulon pointed to the roads in the Quail Roost Ranches neighborhood off State Road 415, showing how they are full of bumps, potholes and, in some spots, large puddles.

“Sometimes, it’s just not worth the wear and tear on your vehicle alone,” she said. “If I do have to go out, I just go 3 to 5 miles an hour. I just go really super slow.”

As much as she wants the road to be fixed, Coulon said the ditches need to be addressed first.

After decades of neglect, she said they need to be cleaned out to allow for rainwater to flow properly.

“Because we have been paying taxes for so long, we really need help raising our roads to what they should be at this point,” Coulon said. “And we need help with our ditches, so that the water doesn’t continue to wash across the roads and just take our road away.”

But a Volusia County spokesperson said the roads, canals and ditches within the Quail Roost Ranches neighborhood are considered private. Thus, the responsibility to maintain them is up to the property owners that reside in that neighborhood and use the roads.

The county spokesperson suggested community members collaborate through a private contractor to improve road conditions.

Coulon said she and her neighbors have worked to pull funds together, but all it takes is one bad rainstorm to wash away their work.

“We need the help," she said. "We’ve been doing this for way too long on our own, and we can’t catch a break."

Coulon said the poor condition of the roads means some utility vehicles won’t even come out to the community.

Without help from the county, Coulon said she and her neighbors are concerned about what the damaged roads will mean for emergency response times.

“Being able to live, drive out here, have deliveries made to us," she said. "If we have an emergency situation, emergency vehicles need to be able to get down our road."

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