Carbon County is hoping the part of the D&L trail that runs through the county-owned parking lot could be shifted closer to the Lehigh River.

On Thursday, the commissioners approved a $10,000 Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape mini-grant from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for a study on that portion of the D&L trail. The current trail leaves Lehigh Gorge State Park, travels up through the rail yard and through the county parking lot. It will eventually connect with the remainder of the trail via a pedestrian foot bridge that will be constructed over the Lehigh River near Turkey Hill at a later time.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the goal of the study is to see if it is feasible to construct something on the other side of the guide rail, closer to the river, to help keep hikers and bikers out of the parking lot and out of harm's way.Commissioner William O'Gurek said the county isn't quite sure what the study will find and if options that have been proposed would work in the area between the parking lot and the river.The county does not plan to have anything completed this year, but may be ready to implement some findings next year.The changes to the trail came about earlier this year after Jim Thorpe architect Ben Walbert approached the board.The county now envisions opening up the Lehigh River next to the parking lot for hikers and bikers."We discussed making that part of the river part of the tourism situation in Jim Thorpe so people who come here don't park and then walk away from (the Lehigh River)," O'Gurek said in April when the county applied for the grant.The goal of the possible project is to draw people to the river and make it safer for people who use the trail.The grant will be used to investigate the area to see if a possible trail or boardwalk is possible on the other side of the guide rail.Nothstein previously said that a trail, if it is possible, will enhance the people's experience and provide some additional scenery of the Lehigh River.In a related matter, the commissioners approved a reimbursement agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation of Norfolk, Virginia for a temporary construction easement for services provided per the force account estimate of $59,019.Services include preliminary engineering, construction engineering, accounting and flagging services associated with the D&L pedestrian bridge project.The D&L will pay the county for all costs and fees associated with the reimbursement agreement.County solicitor Daniel Miscavige said that the county has been finalizing agreements with the two railroads that have lines that run in the area of the future construction.Nothstein said that there has been a delay with getting things in order, which delayed construction time, but he believed this was the final piece of the puzzle.The pedestrian bridge was supposed to go out to bid in April and be constructed this fall, Nothstein said, but wasn't sure what the time line for construction was at this time.