People living near a dangerous intersection in Sharon addressed the city council Wednesday night about their concerns over what is being planned to improve safety at the stretch of highway.
 
A Sharon resident claims to have witnessed around 25 accidents since 1978 at one of the city's most dangerous intersections located at Spencer and the Shenango Valley Freeway, also known as Connelly Boulevard.
 
November 2021 a fatal crash there killed 43-year-old Michael Davies from Greenville. A cross marks the area as a memorial to Davies.
 
Neighbors blame speeding and distracted drivers for the problem and say the intersection isn't good but bad drivers who speed are a major contributing factor to the wrecks, injuries, and deaths.
 
"I've come down the freeway over the speed limit and people pass me like I'm standing still. I've seen people run the light. I've almost been hit down here," Bill Astey said.
 
 Sharon City Council announced Penn Dot will provide a $380,000 grant to improve safety by closing access completely from Spencer adding Jersey barriers and removing the red light at that intersection.
 
But several folks pleaded with the city council to ask PennDot to revise the plan. 
 
They say removing the red light will cause more fatalities and more lawsuits.
 
One resident said shutting down that light will end up with him or his wife dead, along with family members or friends who come to visit them.  
 
He emphasized there is no way for them to get safely out of their driveways without that light. 
 
His voice broke as he talked about the possibility of losing his wife or someone he loves. 
 
About three other families are in the same position as he is.
 
Others in the community agree it's a bad idea, and questioned the safety of school children saying they won't walk around a few extra blocks to get to school
 
They believe students may be killed crossing the road if the light is removed since drivers barrel through the 40-mile-an-hour zone at 60 and 70 miles an hour even with the light there. 
 
"We have kids that cross, we don't have a bus system in Sharon so we have a lot of kids that walk into our neighborhood area. We are just afraid if they put barriers up the kids will continue to cross the freeway and it's going to be even more problems than we have now," Rebecca Brown emphasized. 
 
Several people suggest painting visible crosswalks, adding rumble strips, delaying red lights five seconds all around, and flashing lights, which would work better. 
 
The city manager says engineers may tweak plans but expect changes within the next 18 months.
 
"I think we go to address all those issues and we got to make sure they are taken into consideration and that is the information we will take back to the engineers and traffic consultant," City Manager Bob Fiscus said. 
 
Fiscus explained that the consultant has taken into consideration the traffic that will move to other streets and says the streets can handle the traffic. 
 
Some residents question the study by the consulting firm that monitored traffic for four hours and extrapolated information from those four hours.
 
They want to see a study at peak traffic times and on weeknight and weekend hours when some folks use the freeway to drag race.
 
Others want to know why police can't be posted there to write tickets.
 
City Manager Fiscus explained that the PSP or Pennsylvania State Patrol is the only agency in the state allowed to use radar to cite speeding drivers. 
 
Residents are asking the PA State Police to put someone at that location who can catch speeders who put people's lives in jeopardy.
 
21 News will be reaching out to find out how residents can request help from PA State Police to catch those who violate state traffic laws and put other people's lives and families in jeopardy.