Lehighton has requested a revised plan involving safety improvements for its waterfront area.

However, borough council did agree last week to proceed with the concept plan for the Multimodal Transportation fund grant for Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard.

Bryan Smith, of Barry Isett & Associates, reviewed the conceptual plan with council, which he said would make things safer for pedestrians, and also help the borough’s MS4 program.

“The bump outs will serve dual purposes,” Smith said. “It will slow traffic, and will help with stormwater management.”

However, Councilman Ryan Saunders said he wasn’t a fan.

“I absolutely don’t like it at all,” Saunders said.

Borough engineer Bruce Steigerwalt said based on what he observed, slowing the traffic down could prove a real task.

“After working down there (on Stanley Hoffman Boulevard), I don’t think anything’s going to slow the traffic down,” Steigerwalt said.

Steigerwalt then asked whether the bump outs will help, or hinder, the borough’s snow removal process.

Kris Kunkle, Public Works superintendent, offered his take on the bump outs.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Kunkle said.

Smith suggested that public safety is 365 days a year, whereas snow removal is only every so often.

Regardless, Saunders remained steadfast in his belief that the plan in its current form doesn’t meet council’s approval.

“You can’t paint white lines on white concrete and expect people to (adapt immediately),” he said. “There’s too much diversity at this table.”

Borough police Chief Brian Biechy noted that the borough has done a lot of work recently, having taken what was a true bypass and turning it into a flourishing economic development area.

Afterward, council deadlocked on a 3-3 vote to proceed with the bump outs. Council members Joe Flickinger, Lisa Perry and Darryl Arner were in favor, with Ryan Saunders, Autumn Abelovsky and council President Grant Hunsicker opposed. With Councilman Donnie Rehrig absent, Mayor Clark Ritter, in his capacity, opted against the measure and cast the deciding vote in opposition.

Essentially, council asked Smith to come back with a revised plan without the bump outs, but rather with lines being painted on the road to show how they would conceptually address speeding without using bump outs.

Afterward, council agreed to proceed with the concept plan for the Multimodal Transportation fund grant for Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard.

Previously, council agreed to have the first phase of the safety improvements in Lehighton’s Waterfront area to be designed and bid, and proceed with the engineering proposal of $48,000.

Borough Manager Nicole Beckett said at that time the plan consisted of a pedestrian trail along Lehigh Drive, pedestrian improvements on Main Lane to include one pedestrian beacon lights and two landscaped concrete bump outs before and after Main Lane and painting to stripe off remaining sections of the turning lane.

Beckett noted that the borough has received a total of $480,000; $250,000 through the Multimodal Transportation Fund Program that was received last month, and $230,000 from Local Share funds that were awarded in 2020.

She added at that time there was a chance that for the pedestrian beacon (lights), the speed limit would have to be reduced.

The work along Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard and Lehigh Drive would include a 6-foot-wide walkway, crosswalks, curb extensions, ADA ramps and signs.

In addition, the continuous left-turn lane along the boulevard would be removed.

That project stems from a waterfront traffic study that was completed last year at the recommendation of council for the existing conditions, and to prepare for future growth.