WARWICK, R.I. — A black chain-link fence a skip and a hop from busy Route 1 is causing confusion for deer, and local residents fear the situation is likely to soon cause an accident.

Before that eventually happens though, neighbors have been troubled seeing deer being “stopped in their tracks” or, worse, running into what they are calling a “spite fence.” A deer crossing sign stands a few feet from the woodland blockade. The sign is easy to see. The fence is not.

Watching disorientated deer walking around confused, or perhaps concussed, on the sidewalk or in the two-lane street has upset local residents.

Post Road (Route 1) resident Marge O’Hara said seeing deer like that is distressing. She also noted the fence is restricting access to habitat.

“They’re confused and dazed wandering in the road,” O’Hara said. “They can’t get to where they need to be.”

A fellow Post Road resident, who didn’t want their name used because of ongoing litigation, recently sent an email to the state Department of Environmental Management expressing his concerns.

“I just watched a deer run around in traffic for at least two minutes on Post Road because the fence cuts through an animal crossing corridor,” the person wrote. “This has happened multiple times, it’s absolutely ridiculous, and sooner or later somebody is going to get hurt.”

The Pawtuxet River Trail, which cuts through private property on Post Road, had been in use for decades, but for the past few years the property’s most-recent owners have been trying to develop the waterfront site. Lee Beausoleil and Artak Avagyan have clashed with residents. Opponents allege the fence was erected as payback.

Before the fence was put up, the owners had erected several signs — “Posted No Trespassing Keep Out,” “Private Property No Trespassing,” and “No Entry Cameras In Use.” The public didn’t keep out.

Neighborhood opponents, many of whom who would eventually organize as Pawtuxet Green Revival, have fought the development plans because they believe the community is “being robbed of public and historical access” to the popular 2.3-mile loop trail that hugs the Pawtuxet River at the tip of the Pawtuxet Industrial Park. Residents have noted the trail was long maintained by the Boy Scouts and local volunteers, and should have been granted an easement years ago.

O’Hara, 79, has lived her entire life in the neighborhood. She’s concerned there is less and less habitat available for deer and other wildlife. She “misses walking” the Pawtuxet River Trail.

DEM OK’d the fencing off of the property when the project’s wetlands application was approved. The fence went up late last year.

Joy Fox recently shared her deer-fence story with the Warwick Beacon, a publication where she serves as co-publisher. The newspaper reported that she recently “stopped her car in horror” as a family of deer frantically raced along the fence running parallel to the road.

“They panicked,” Fox is quoted. “They didn’t know where to turn.”

She noted a car stopped behind her, and there was a line of stopped cars in the opposite lane.

Rep. Joseph McNamara, D-Warwick, is considering legislation to give DEM the power to create rights of way to the Pawtuxet River, according to the Warwick Beacon.

“Although deer and some other wildlife species may be deterred from crossing Route 1 which they historically have had access to, the Freshwater Wetlands rules do not regulate this,” a DEM spokesperson wrote in an email to ecoRI News. “However, an opening in the fence along the river was also proposed and implemented that allows for wildlife passage.”

Concerned neighbors were told by DEM via email that a staffer from the agency’s Division of Fish & Wildlife would inspect the property and fence the week of March 10.