Road directions along Guinea Road that include "going straight at the light" could lead to frustration and backtracking. Since realignment, the road takes a sharp left and has an offshoot, also called Guinea Road, before turning completely into New Guinea Road without notice.
Ed Clark lives in Kings Park West, which is one of the neighborhoods where the confusion starts. He's had many a lost traveler knock on his door.
"Guinea is a confusing road. They think it's helping, but it's confusing. People stop, and they're asking for directions," said Clark, comparing it with other roads in the county that change names on the same road. Fairfax County Parkway, Interstate 95 and Backlick Road were examples he used. Explaining to lost travelers is not easy, said Clark.
"I do it by lights. There's no rhyme or reason, but that's what I do," he said.
Clark lives a few houses from the first intersection off Braddock Road where Guinea Road meets Twinbrook Road and Commonwealth Boulevard.
"I don't even follow the signs anymore," he said.
At the next light, the intersection with Burke Road, confusion sets in when Guinea Road goes straight through at the light and also turns right. Gina Lannon lives in the first house on the Guinea offshoot that is now just an access road, which is also labeled “Chatsworth Court.” Pizza delivery requires an explanation for the drivers.
"When I called for pizza, I say, 'It's not the Guinea you think it is.' You wouldn't believe the number of people asking for directions," she said.
BACK IN 1978 when the federal government stepped in with water drainage regulations, Guinea Road used to run through an area that is now Lake Royal. Part of the old pavement can still be seen leading straight down into the lake. Fairfax County supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) was a resident of Kings Park West at that time.
"The lake was put in in 1978. You can still see where it dead ends into the lake," she said.
Guinea Road was realigned back then, and some parts were just improved, while others were replaced with new stretches of road. The access road that Lannon lives on is still Guinea Road, while the through road on the other side is Guinea Road as well.
Dianne Townsend lives a few doors down. They bought the house in 1976. She remembers what it was like before the realignment and likes the current situation better.
"At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, I couldn't get out of my driveway," she said.
Bulova said this is the reaction from most of the people in the area.
"The realignment was considered positive for many of the residents," she said.
Townsend looked at the Pomeroy Road sign right out in front of her house on Guinea Road. Pomeroy intersects with the Guinea offshoot about 100 yards west of the sign.
"I'm not sure why this sign is there anyway," she said.
She likes the current situation though, once people get used to it.
"I think it would be worse to change the name at this point," she said.
Somewhere along the road, Guinea Road becomes New Guinea Road, without warning. This is up by the Target store and Roberts Road, where Guinea used to cross the railroad tracks. The road now passes over the tracks via a new bridge. Jennifer Shoemaker lives in Colony Park near the bridge.
"I haven't seen any problem with it," she said.
New Guinea Road crosses Roberts Road, through a neighborhood, before ending at Sideburn Road. Where Guinea Road actually ends is still in question. On the map in Bulova's office, Guinea Road, or Route 651, changes to New Guinea Road, Route 7137, and then back to the old route number on the other side of Roberts Road.
"It's called New Guinea here, but it's got the same route number as Guinea," said Florence Naeve, chief of staff in Bulova's office, examining one of the county zoning maps.
Widening Guinea from New Guinea to Pomeroy was one of the transportation improvements that might have been completed if the tax referendum had gone through, Naeve said.
THE ORIGIN of Guinea Road's name is also elusive. In the Virginia Room at the Fairfax County Public Library in the City of Fairfax, there is a folder on street names, but no mention is made of Guinea Road. Anita Ramose is the research expert in the Virginia Room and has looked for the name origin before.
"I've been here since 1982, and no one's come up with an answer," Ramose said.
Townsend passed on lore that she's heard on the name.
"Guinea is a very old, old road. At 236, there was a guinea hen farm, it goes way back to the 1800s," she said.