Late last year, Tamaqua took the first step in applying for a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation grant that would help fund a traffic study in the borough’s downtown.

But the borough recently learned that it would have to modify its idea for the study in order for PennDOT to consider a grant application, borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt said.

In November, council authorized its engineer Alfred Benesch and Co. to submit a pre-application scoping form.

“It’s basically sending them your idea, and then they comment on whether it’s eligible for funding (or suggest) ways to modify your idea to make it eligible,” Steigerwalt said.

PennDOT recently returned the scoping form asking for more information and other potential changes.

Council referred PennDOT’s comments to its Parking and Traffic Committee for further discussion.

Steigerwalt noted that applications are due by March 31.

If the application is successful, it would cover about 80% of the study’s approximate $172,000 cost. That means Tamaqua would have to foot the additional 20%, or about $43,000.

Tamaqua’s downtown frequently sees heavy traffic and congestion from the intersection of state Routes 209 and 309 and an active railroad line.

The Green Light Go grant program is designed to improve the efficiency and operation of existing traffic signals, and is administered by PennDOT’s Bureau of Maintenance and Operations.

The borough made some changes after a traffic study about 20 years ago. Since then, the volume of traffic — especially truck traffic — has increased, borough officials have said.