SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Pedestrian safety has been an ongoing issue for the city of Springfield. 22News spoke with President of the Springfield City Council, Jesse Lederman, to find out what steps the city is taking to avoid further tragedy.

“We certainly continue to see in the city of Springfield what I describe as an epidemic of traffic fatalities and incidents,” said Lederman.

The City Of Springfield is handling another pedestrian incident on Wilbraham and Massachusetts Avenue Thursday morning. Two pedestrians were struck when at the crosswalk.

Darrin Gandy of Springfield told 22News, “It’s always been pretty dangerous. A lot of speeding and traffic coming from the top of the hill into downtown, they really do need to have some activated stop lights for pedestrians crossing.”

“They are preventable tragedies and we need to do everything we can as a city to make sure we are changing the infrastructure to prevent them,” said Lederman.

Residents telling 22News they hope improvements come soon. Lenora Anderson of Agawam said, “It would be nice to have an improved street crossing for pedestrians. It’s a shame that people are going so fast when they are driving. They need to be more aware of the people that are around them.”

Nearby on State Street, there have been several other pedestrian crashes, and efforts to put in a safe crossing outside the Springfield City Library are underway.

“We really need to be changing the design of our roadways, both in our main corridors and in our residential areas, to keep pedestrians safe and slow the speed of traffic to cut down on these sorts of incidents,” said Lederman.

Lederman says that right now he is looking to propose more raised speed bumps to provide a physical change in the roadways as well as other legislation to increase safety throughout the city.