The Five Points intersection is a PennDOT Puzzle and nobody has been able to solve it.

As a result, motorists and pedestrians continue to be at risk.For instance, on Wednesday morning, pedestrian Jeanne Novack of Tamaqua carefully stepped across Route 309 just north of the intersection, her right arm wrapped in a medical harness.As usual, Novack's heart was in her throat as she tried to make her way across the highway, a thoroughfare always filled with traffic but especially so on Hometown Farmers Market Wednesday.Novack knows the danger all too well.In April, 2015, she was struck and injured at the same spot by a minivan traveling the wrong way on the one-way street, a vehicle driven by someone without a valid driver's license. Novack was rushed to a trauma center in serious condition and is still dealing with her injuries.Earlier this month at the same area, two five-year-old girls were struck and critically hurt.The stepsisters were airlifted to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Trauma Center after being hit by a car just south of Tommy's Restaurant.The girls were crossing Railroad Street from west to east, accompanied by an adult pushing a stroller. The straight travel lane of traffic was stopped. But a car in the passing lane hit the girls.That's because, on North Railroad Street, there are two lanes of travel. Or are there? Nobody seems to be quite sure. The roadway isn't marked as such until one gets a bit closer to the Five Points. But motorists routinely form two lanes a few blocks north of that spot, even though there's no signage to allow it.Many pedestrians cross Route 309 near Tommy's Restaurant every day because it leads to a walkway across railroad tracks by the train station. It's also a convenient connector between the east and west sides of town.Pedestrians know that by crossing near Tommy's, they can avoid the pedestrian-unfriendly Five Points just a few steps away. Clearly, the Five Points is a spot far more dangerous than North Railroad Street.Despite numerous traffic studies and installation of traffic lights that communicate with each other, Tamaqua still has major traffic flow problems and two busy highways that are difficult for pedestrians to navigate.Many believe there are at least two related issues that need to be addressed.One is the Five Points itself. The intersection is inherently dangerous. The existing traffic lights seem to ignore the realities of traffic flow. For example, the traffic lights offer no left-turn opportunities for motorists arriving at the intersection from Railroad, Center and East Broad streets. This contributes to the bottleneck.The other is the lack of road markings and signage to indicate where North Railroad Street becomes two lanes. It's a guessing game.And Tamaqua isn't alone with its PennDOT Puzzle.Hometown has a Five Points intersection similar to Tamaqua and it, too, lacks left-turn signals, forcing drivers to make left turns on a red light.Drivers in both municipalities have learned to use side streets to avoid the Five Points. For instance, residents of Cumberland Avenue in Hometown say traffic has doubled or tripled on their street over the past five years as motorists use it as a detour to skirt around the Hometown intersection. Frustrated by Route 309 traffic backups, these motorists often speed on their alternate routes to get where they're going.The fact that there are frequent car crashes and related injuries in Tamaqua and Hometown is no surprise at all.Despite all of the studies and modifications, nobody has yet solved the PennDOT Puzzle.