Lehighton officials - both at the school district and borough level - are continuing discussion over a potential traffic light at a dangerous intersection

Superintendent Dr. Christina Fish provided a brief update on the traffic light at last week’s school board meeting.

“Recently there was communication between the borough and our solicitor, there was some confusion as to what the next steps were,” Fish said. “It seems that we’ve worked that out and our solicitor is working on getting information that the borough has requested in order for the design team to move forward.”

In December, Lehighton businessman Jay Davenport, who owns Davenport Studios at 499 S. Ninth St., asked Lehighton Borough Council if there was “anything making that corner any safer.”

Davenport said at that meeting that a car came through his door (at Ninth and Bridge streets) on Nov. 11 when two cars collided, and pushed the other car into the door of his business.

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

Davenport said that ever since three lanes of traffic were put in, traffic moves faster.

He 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.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said she wanted the borough to reach out to the school district to see where they are.

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.

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