A Lehighton business owner is asking Carbon County officials for help as weekend visitor traffic in Jim Thorpe is diverted away from Lehighton due to new traffic patterns for the county parking lot.

On Thursday, David Miller, owner of Within Harmony on First Street in Lehighton, approached the board of commissioners to ask if anything could be done to help the business owners of other municipalities, specifically neighboring Lehighton, because business drops on weekends due to the new traffic pattern. When visitors leave the county lot, they can no longer turn left out of the lot onto Route 209, heading toward Lehighton. They must turn right and then, Miller said, GPS takes over and detours them out Maury Road to the turnpike instead of through First Street.

“When the blockades were put up and redirect traffic patterns … the businesses in the surrounding areas that go through Lehighton or anywhere else are suffering,” he said, noting that his business sees about half the visitors it sees on a middle of the week day and he feels it is due to the traffic pattern change.

“It is noticeably different on weekends because of the traffic detour,” Miller said. “During Wednesday and Thursday, we have great community support. We have repeat customers and all, but the times that are really crucial for our businesses to grow, especially since the chamber is trying to utilize Lehighton as the Jim Thorpe overflow because Jim Thorpe is busier than it has ever been. So when we directed traffic out of Lehighton, you lose a giant portion of tourism.”

Miller used a steam train weekend as an example where Jim Thorpe expected thousands to visit. That day, Lehighton businesses suffered because people were directed away from the downtown when leaving Jim Thorpe.

“We were looking at each other and there was nobody,” he said.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said that the county will speak with various organizations that work on tourism in the county to see if anything can be changed to better promote the area in Lehighton without it getting bypassed by the GPS and traffic patterns.

“We’ll see what we can do to share the wealth that’s coming into this town,” he said. “There’s plenty to go around.”

Miller said he understands Jim Thorpe has a lot to offer, as well as significant challenges regarding parking, but so does the county.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner agreed, noting that Carbon is unique in that it has several areas that offer unique experiences for visitors, and these businesses work together to try to create a network.

He spoke about the parking apps that center on Jim Thorpe and said he hopes to have more connectivity to others because tourism doesn’t just happen in the summer.

“Everybody thinks the summer is over and it’s done,” Ahner said. “But no, we’re just starting. You got Octoberfest and Christmas.”

Miller said those are big months for the county and hopes to see businesses flourish because of this.

The county took no action on the matter but said it will look to see what could possibly be done to help resolve this problem.