PITTSTON TOWNSHIP -- The death of a man in Pittston Township last night has raised questions about the safety of a busy stretch of Route 315.
Police say Lawrence Korman of Pittston was walking across Route 315 from a hotel to the fast food restaurant to get something to eat just before 11:00 last night in Pittston Township. Police say the driver involved didn't have time to stop, and won't be charged.
Sergeant Lena Angelella of the Pittston Township Police Department says she contacted PennDOT and wants changes along that stretch of road including better lighting, no left hand turns, and an extended median.
"In the last 64 days we’ve had three fatal accidents there. That’s a lot. So far for the year we’ve had a little over 50 accidents on just this stretch of road and that’s a lot of accidents," said Angelella.
PennDOT spokesperson James May says they're looking into the requests, but an extended median could make the situation even worse.
"Instead of going all the way around, which would be the result of a median, many times they will decide to simply run across the road. It also means that people running across the road will have to hop over a median," said May.
Some drivers agree with Sergeant Angelella and want to see increased safety measures on Route 315 in the area.
"I come up here three, four times a week and I’ll tell ya if that saves lives I wish they would do that because I'm sorry to hear what happened. That’s one thing. They gotta do it, if not it will be another thing," said Dan Hamilton who was traveling through Pittston Township on his way home to Binghamton, NY.
PennDOT officials say they will continue to look at the stretch of Route 315 near Pittston and haven’t ruled anything out. They really want to get the message out that it’s just not safe for people to walk across this section of highway.