MOUNT POCONO -- Trying to cross Route 611 is a daily struggle for Felicita Valentin from Mount Pocono.
The issue of speeding cars and cars not yielding to pedestrians is growing.
"If you are walking, crossing already and the car is coming down, well you better run the rest of the way. If not,, you will get run over," said Felicita Valentin, Mount Pocono.
With the newly paved Route 611, residents here believe it's become more of a speedway than a roadway and crossing the street is nearly impossible. Now officials are looking at a number of different ways to fix the problem.
"It's one thing to hit a car, it's another thing to hit a pedestrian. We have, I think, five crosswalks down 611 and I think many drivers don't know there is even a single one. Even when people are waiting and waving their hands, it's just unfortunate and we want to get to it before it becomes a tragedy," said Mayor Frederick Courtwright .
Mayor Courtwright tells Newswatch 16 he and other borough officials have been looking into both short-term and long-term solutions to the speeding problem, with better signage of the 30 mph posted speed limit being top priority.
"Perhaps painting the speed right there on the roads, we are looking to use some channelizes to narrow the traffic so that people will see these things ahead of time and start slowing down," said Courtwright.
Residents tell Newswatch 16, whatever solution officials choose, they hope it works and to see it implemented sooner rather than later.
"Well hopefully we will see some lights, but also someone really enforcing this issue because if they don't enforce it there are going to be a lot of deaths," said Valentin.
The mayor plans to discuss more safety options with local police at a meeting on Tuesday night.
He also hopes to have some of those short term solutions, like the speed limit painted on the roads and flashing lights in place along Route 611 in the next few weeks.
