A Lehighton businessman is fearful that the intersection at Ninth and Bridge streets where his studio is located could eventually lead to a tragedy.

Jay Davenport, who owns Davenport Studios at 499 S. Ninth St., asked borough council last week if there was “anything making that corner any safer.”

“A car just came through my door (at Ninth and Bridge streets),” said Davenport about the crash that occurred at 7:29 p.m. Nov. 11 when two cars collided, and pushed the other car into the door of his business.

Davenport then suggested little red lights possibly put underneath the stop sign so that motorists could better see the stop sign, especially at night when visibility is reduced.

“Maybe a stronger police presence would help,” he said. “My concern as a citizen, my students come in and out my door.”

Davenport then welcomed council members to sit outside his business and see the traffic for themselves.

He said that ever since three lanes of traffic were put in, it’s made traffic go faster.

Davenport asked if there’s been any consideration about a traffic light being put up.

Council noted the borough previously made a separate agreement with Lehighton Area School District.

“I would like us to reach out to the school district and see where they are,” Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said.

In January 2022, Lehighton Area School Board approved an agreement acknowledging it would be its responsibility to pay for a traffic signal at the intersection of Bridge and Ninth streets if one is installed.

The agreement essentially upholds a memorandum of understanding signed by the district’s board of directors in 2017 when Lehighton’s new elementary center was being completed, accepting responsibility for installation of the signal when and if the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation deemed it necessary.

The traffic signal agreement was the only item holding up Lehighton Borough’s issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the elementary center to the district. The district received the certificate in the days after the board’s January 2022 meeting.

According to the MOU signed in 2017 and the agreement that was approved, the district was to place $10,000 in an escrow account at a bank chosen by the borough. The borough would then draw from the account to pay for electricity, operation, maintenance, repair, restoration and/or replacement of the signal. After the $10,000 from the district was spent, all future costs would fall on the borough.

In the event PennDOT decides a traffic light is necessary, Lehighton Area School District Business Administrator Ed Rarick previously said the money would most likely be pulled from the district’s capital expenditure fund.

Davenport said he’s in favor of whatever it takes to make the intersection safer.