Lehighton Borough Council has opted to paint lines in a crosswalk that has caused concerns instead of ordering the traffic study needed for upgrades.

On a 4-3 vote, council last week agreed to repaint two existing white lines across the street at the Bankway/Sergeant Stanley Hoffman Boulevard crosswalks. No signs or markers will be placed there without a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation traffic study.

Council members Joe Flickinger, Ryan Saunders, Darryl Arner and Lisa Perry were in favor. Autumn Abelovsky, Donnie Rehrig and council President Grant Hunsicker were opposed.

Borough Manager Nicole Beckett told council that Penn­DOT said April 28 that the crosswalk is a midblock crossing, which creates additional requirements for installation.

Beckett said a traffic study would need to be completed, and the borough would need to prove there are 80 pedestrians crossing in that location in a one-hour time frame.

According to PennDOT, the two roads perform like two one-way portions of the same road where they are splitting, not two routes intersecting or two routes joining at right angles or coming in conflict with each other.

Flickinger recommended that the borough’s Public Works Department paint the existing two white lines.

Saunders agreed, adding, “We don’t have any other choice but to paint the lines.”

However, Rehrig said he was concerned that there’s no signs.

Council’s decision comes after it agreed on a 5-0 vote in March to remove the crosswalk at Bankway and Bridge Street, and to obtain proposals for traffic engineering for the potential installation of a midblock crossing at First Street/Bankway/Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard to make it a continuation of the waterfront traffic study.

The matter arose when resident Karla Gadecki voiced concern about the safety of the crosswalk by RJ Walker crosswalk.

Further, Gadecki said she believes that removal of the crosswalk will only serve to make the area more dangerous instead of safer, as there will still be those who will continue to cross by RJ Walker, including tourists coming off the D&L Trailhead.

In February, Gadecki presented a petition with 324 signatures to council asking the borough to install a pedestrian crosswalk system at Bridge and Bankway/East Bridge Street near RJ Walker Plumbing.

Gadecki said at that time her goal is to make the existing crosswalk safer, and that at the crossing by Dunkin’ Donuts, there is bolder paint on the road which is more visible to vehicles, and many signs to indicate to drivers this is an area where pedestrians cross.

Beckett at that time presented council with three options after discussion with the PennDOT Traffic Unit on options for improvements.

One option was to improve the crosswalk with fresh paint; another was to notify PennDOT the borough wants to add signs for the crosswalk and go through their application process, which would involve administrative time, public works time, purchase of signs and possible consultation with an engineer; and the other was to notify Penn­DOT the borough is interested in installing overhead Rapid Flashing Beacons, and request PennDOT complete the study.

There would be the costs of constructing the beacons, engineering, maintenance and electricity.

The borough had received $230,000 from the Local Share Account - Monroe County grant, and submitted an application to the DCED Multimodal Transportation Fund in the amount of $818,921 in 2020 and await notification on the awards.

Beckett said the LSA Grant and MTF Grant are both submitted for the improvements on Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard, based on a traffic improvement study from 2018.