As many as 140 people an hour on average are crossing Main Street near the roundabout with Tithebarn Street, according to a snap survey by a Keswick resident.
Leonard Will, of nearby Stanger Street, said he monitored four different hours of the day to get an average and witnessed elderly people “dodging” cars and motorists having to brake as they met pedestrians crossing in the middle of the road.
He has raised his findings with Keswick Town Council and said it underlines the need for new infrastructure to alleviate the danger faced by pedestrians crossing between the Co-op and Tithebarn Street.
But Keswick Town Council has said it does not want a crossing too near the roundabout because of the backlog of congestion it could create.
That follows the experience this summer when a nearby temporary puffin crossing was installed during the convention which some said made delays at the roundabout worse than ever.
Mr Will said: “This situation is clearly unacceptable and I would like the council to accept that it is not something that we can continue to live with. A dangerous accident is going to occur there and it will be serious.”
Cllr Steve Harwood, for Keswick Town Council, said he understood the concerns and the dangers, but it had little control over the matter as highways is a county council responsibility.
Providing a new puffin crossing for Keswick was part of the conditions of the Premier Inn getting planning permission from the Lake District National Park Authority for its £6 million hotel.
Otherwise, the county council’s highways team would have opposed the application and potentially scuppered the project.
Cllr Harwood explained that there was no requirement on Premier Inn to provide the equivalent value of a crossing for Keswick and that the location of it remained the issue.
To change the condition would require a new planning application – potentially putting the hotel process back at square one, he said.
The town council has written to both the county council and the Lake District National Park Authority urging a rethink on the location of the crossing – even if it it requires a new application for the hotel.
The town council favours a crossing going further up High Hill and nearer the school – to help an ongoing campaign by parents of children attending Keswick School, who are worried about pupils trying to cross the busy road.
But Mr Will said he was disappointed that Keswick Town Council did not believe something was needed to alleviate the danger facing pedestrians crossing near the junction, as identified in his survey.
Cllr Paul Titley said official statistics showed hardly any accidents at the problem-spot and that the county council would only install crossings in the areas with the worst records.
“All of us know it’s an adventure trying to get across the road to the Co-op and I don’t want to belittle that, but I do fear any investigation will fail as we simply have far more skilful road crossers.”
Cllr David Burn said any attempt to convince the Premier Inn crossing to be moved was “whistling in the wind,” but worth trying.
Cllr Allan Daniels suggested the council try to arrange a meeting with Premier Inn to discuss possible crossing locations.
