Knowing that the Walnut Street Bridge is slated to be replaced by Lehigh County sometime within a couple years, Slatington Borough Council opted to be proactive and pursue a multimodal grant to help pay for work on the intersection of Walnut and Main streets.

The intersection needs to be realigned with the bridge.

Currently, traffic traveling from Route 873 has to veer to the right as it goes through the intersection with Main Street and Walnut Street.

“The roads are supposed to line up,” said Council President Daniel Stevens. “But they haven’t for years.”

It doesn’t make sense to realign the intersection until after the bridge is replaced, he said. When the time comes, they want to be ready with the funds.

The Multimodal Transportation Fund grant is for $550,000 through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. If awarded, the borough would be required to provide a 20 percent match of $110,000, Stevens said.

Stevens said that although a date for the bridge replacement has not yet been set, grants usually give municipalities a few years to use the money.

The current bridge is large, Stevens said, but almost too narrow for two-way traffic.

“It needs to be both widened and rebuilt,” he said.

In other business, the borough council members voted to approve a $5,000 donation to the Slatington library for operating expenses.

They also voted to raise the rent for the office space to State Rep. Zach Mako from $650 to $675 per month. The lease would be for two years.

The council discussed how much to raise the rent, but chose not to raise the rent significantly. Council member Jason Ruff advocated to keep the increase low.

“They do provide services to our residents,” Ruff said. “They’re not a business.”

Council also voted to purchase some office equipment, including two file cabinets. Stevens said they also need chairs, but will purchase those next year.

The file cabinets will cost about $1,000, he said. Council voted to allow for the purchase and set the limit at $1,100.

“It’s in the budget,” he said. “We’re OK.”