RUMFORD – Two road crossings deemed dangerous by people who use them will soon be undergoing scrutiny by state and municipal officials.

One involves the intersection of Portland and Congress streets and the other, a diagonal crosswalk atop Falls Hill on Route 2.

According to Town Manager Len Greaney, at the urging of selectmen, he and police Chief Stacy Carter are scheduling a meeting with Maine Department of Transportation officials to discuss both areas and ways to rectify safety issues.

“The issue with Congress Street is that people are coming over the bridge on Portland Street, then coming around the corner, and there’s no crosswalk by Dunkin’ Donuts. There should be a stop sign there,” Greaney said on Wednesday afternoon in the town office.

Greaney credited Ron McHugh, executive director for Oxford County Mental Health Services, for identifying the problem, which involves five points of traffic access converging within 50 feet of each other in a high-use pedestrian area.

“At the other one, there is a crosswalk by Scoops, but it’s very diagonal and my God, it’s a safety problem,” Greaney said.

The Falls Hill crosswalk bisects three lanes of traffic opposite the Scoops Chill and Grill diner, just beyond a sharp uphill corner in an unlit area.

It has poor sighting distance for pedestrians using the crosswalk and for westbound drivers accelerating to get over the hill or pass slower traffic, especially at night.

“I think it’s very unsafe, it really is,” Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said Wednesday.

Gallant, a Rumford resident, walks daily on mornings and nights throughout Mexico and Rumford.

“I have to cross (road) that two times a day and I try to avoid that crosswalk as much as possible. When I have to use it, I have to run across to avoid getting hit. I can’t imagine how older people and women pushing baby carriages get safely across it. I’ve had some close calls. You’re crossing three lanes of traffic and it’s diagonally, so you’re going farther,” Gallant said.

Like McHugh, Gallant shared his insight at Thursday’s selectmen meeting and suggested that town officials black out the crosswalk to remove it.

Instead, Gallant said the crosswalk should be moved down Route 2 beyond the South Rumford Road intersection where the crossing is safer and better visibility exists. It should also be well lit.

At Thursday’s meeting, Greaney said town officials couldn’t recall when or why the diagonal crosswalk was sited in the unsafe location. The speed limit is 35 mph going up the hill driving west, then just beyond the crosswalk, the speed reverts to 25 mph through a business zone.

On Dec. 5, David Mitchell, 38, of Rumford, was seriously injured when struck by a sport-utility vehicle while walking across Route 2 near the crosswalk at dusk.

Virgin Street resident Leroy Varnum said then that he witnessed the accident from his porch on a hill behind Scoops.

“This is a really bad intersection,” Varnum said. “This town really needs to do something about it and this crosswalk. Nobody does 35 miles an hour when they come up over that hill.”

Varnum said his daughter was hit by a car in the crosswalk last summer. Since then, he no longer allows his children to cross there.

Greaney said selectmen unanimously agreed it’s a problem that needs to be corrected immediately.

“So, we’ll be hot on that,” he added.