JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Riverside homeowners living off Roosevelt Boulevard near the I-10 entrance ramp say they are fed up with hearing late-night sounds of motorcycle engines revving and what they believe to be motorcycle street racing.
The residents living off Roosevelt Boulevard sent a complaint letter and petition to Mayor Donna Deegan expressing their concerns about the late-night noise.
The homeowner who started the petition said she wrote the letter after several calls to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not solve the problem.
“I’m fed up with it. I can’t deal with it anymore. It’s emotionally draining me, and I can’t sleep at night,” the homeowner told News4JAX.
Another homeowner who also signed the petition said the chaos usually begins on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
“It sounds like they’re riding together, which is fine, but it gets a little bit loud when they gun it as they get onto the highway so close to all these houses,” the other homeowner said.
There is a barrier wall separating the homes from the highway but many residents said it does very little to block out the sound of the racing motorcycles.
In the past, JSO has cracked down on street takeovers involving minibikes and cars, and law enforcement across the state has used helicopters to catch groups of motorcyclists in the act of racing and performing reckless stunts on the road.
The residents said they want law enforcement and city officials to listen to their concerns and come up with a solution.
News4JAX reached out to the mayor’s office for a response but did not immediately hear back.
Although a JSO spokesperson said this was the first time he had heard anything about the complaint, JSO calls for service from the address of the homeowner who started the petition show that JSO had been called several times about loud noise and traffic concerns.