Three decades ago, Massachusetts residents Lew and Ina Heafitz found their own special spot of paradise in Edgecomb. On a trip visiting friends, they discovered a cozy home on Eddy Road with a fabulous view of the Sheepscot River was available. They bought it, and the house became their summer home. But it seems, even paradise has flaws. A steady stream of Eddy Road traffic traveling at unsafe speeds is one of the few drawbacks of life in rural Maine.

A couple years ago, a teenager crashed his mother’s BMW into their fence. “He could’ve killed himself. He was driving too fast which has been common ever since we moved here,” Ina Heafitz said. This summer, speeders are a bigger problem due to a Maine Department of Transportation project on U.S. Routes 1 and 27.

In June, MDOT began the construction project to address safety concerns for motorists merging from Route 27 onto U.S Route 1. But as in all summer construction projects, delays have resulted in motorists seeking alternate routes. Locals have known about Eddy Road as a shortcut between between Routes 27 and 1, but locals are seeing more traffic than ever. Ina Heafitz believes GPS is directing more traffic to Eddy Road to avoid bottleneck traffic on Route 1. “The speed is posted but nobody obeys it,” she said. “It’s more traffic with more people driving too fast. It’s an accident waiting to happen here.”

As problems mounted, Edgecomb selectmen sought help from MDOT, who posted “Local Traffic Only” signs, but the town doesn’t have any enforcement mechanism and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department is short staffed. So the Heafitzes sought their own remedy. Lew Heafitz had a sign made based on the nautical term, “wake,” or waves created by boats traveling at high speeds.

“It’s tongue-in-cheek. I made the sign to alert people to the fact they are driving too fast,” he said. “A harbor master will give a ticket for this, and this was my attempt at humor.”

On Aug. 9, selectmen encouraged residents to complain to both MDOT and the sheriff’s department with their concerns. Board Chairman Dawn Murray also commented about the Heafitzes’ sign and hoped others would follow suit.”Maybe if we lit up the switchboards something might be done. I saw a sign ‘No Wake Zone’ and maybe this will help get the message out to slow down,” she said. Murray also reported Mills Road residents were also concerned and held a neighborhood meeting about possibly seeking more help from MDOT and the sheriff’s department.

Later this fall, MDOT turns its attention to Eddy Road where the road will be widened and a retaining wall replaced. The project includes dynamiting to remove ledge. Ina Heaftiz believes the road improvement project may have an unintended consequence. “If the road is wider, then that will probably encourage motorists to travel at higher speeds. I’d rather have them make a one-way road or closed to local traffic,” she said.

The Heafitzes don’t plan to complain to selectmen, or county or state officials.

“We’re not complainers. If they were going to do something, they probably would have already, Lew Heafitz said.