Living on Poland Range Road in Pownal is not the way life should be. Twelve neighbors plus state Rep. David Webster and Sgt. Paul Thorpe from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department met Sunday, Oct. 24, due to frustration and anger at what is happening on our patch of country road.

We cannot take our children and pets for walks, we cannot exercise and it is not even safe to drive on occasion. The speed limit is 35 mph, but drivers are exceedingly doubling that. Walkers have been peppered with gravel as there is not enough concern to slow down for pedestrians and children. A fellow resident was instrumental in facilitating the Sheriff’s Department to put speed limit signs and place a digital sign up for a week notifying drivers of their speed, but to no avail.

Sgt. Thorpe admitted that on any given day, a single deputy covers Pownal, Gray, New Gloucester and North Yarmouth. The thin coverage leaves problems in the hands of whom? The citizens? We cannot stand for what is happening on our road.

Weekends are another issue: drinking, driving, cruising and littering. I am at a loss to see such disregard for the community who live on this stretch of road. It is very dangerous. I would hate to think it is going to cost someone their life to shed some light on what needs to be done.

Melissa McCrea
Pownal