Progress is in the cards for the St. Luke’s Carbon Campus in Franklin Township.

Heavy equipment recently has been parked on the site of the future $80 million campus.

Board of supervisors Chairman Jason Frey explained what he believed their intentions were.

“They were cutting in two construction entrances, and as far as I know, that’s it,” Frey said. “I know they said they were going to be bringing fencing in to secure the site and the equipment at the construction site.”

Sam Kennedy, St. Luke’s spokesman, said the machines “are for some basic roadwork.”

“Across the network, most of our building has been paused because of COVID-19,” Kennedy said. “Some work, however, must go ahead for various reasons.

For example, under the permitting process, some work is supposed to start by a certain time, or the permits expire. That’s what we are dealing with in this case.”

Once built, the hospital will be located on more than 100 acres at the intersection of Fairyland and Harrity roads.

Supervisors in February conditionally approved St. Luke’s subdivision plan.

In October, St. Luke’s University Health Network broke ground on its new St. Luke’s Carbon Campus under a tent at the site.

Once completed, the hospital will provide area residents local access to a range of specialty services in a full-service, three-story, 155,000-square-foot hospital.

Built with American steel, the St. Luke’s Carbon Campus will be equipped with 80 beds, 20 emergency department exam rooms, three operating rooms and two OR procedure rooms. Specialty services will include trauma, cardiology, neurology and radiology, among others.

At its peak, construction of the Carbon Campus will employ over 200 construction workers through dozens of contractors.

In September, supervisors approved a developer’s agreement that allows St. Luke’s to begin construction.

Back in September, St. Luke’s said it was still working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, PPL and the Lehighton Water Authority for utilities and the project’s driveway along Route 209.

The agreement says that the township will let St. Luke’s begin construction, but St. Luke’s can’t open the hospital until those agreements are in place. The supervisors previously approved plans for the project in January 2019.

St. Luke’s Senior Vice President Bob Martin said St. Luke’s negotiated the agreement so they could begin construction while working out the complicated contracts with the three agencies. He said the health network is confident those deals would be completed, and they didn’t want to delay construction in the meantime.

The agreement also includes a $100,000 donation for the township to use for road projects.

St. Luke’s hopes to open the facility in 2021.