Several Lehighton businesses, as well as borough representatives, again raised their concerns over a new traffic pattern Jim Thorpe created coming out of the county parking lot, adding that they would file a lawsuit to resolve the matter if all groups don’t work together to solve the issue.

On Thursday, business owners David Miller, Tina Henninger and Bob Schaeffer, as well as Lehighton councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky addressed their issue with the county commissioners.

They asked for help to find a resolution that doesn’t negatively impact the revitalization Lehighton is trying to achieve.

The problem stems from barriers that are set up each weekend by Jim Thorpe police that moves traffic out of the county parking lot and away from Lehighton, making vehicles turn right toward the Route 903 bridge instead of being allowed to turn left toward Lehighton.

Miller previously attended a commissioners’ meeting asking for help and was looking for an update on the matter because of the impacts it is having to area businesses.

He said that his weekday business is better than his weekend business due to the barriers in Jim Thorpe.

Miller also said that he understand parking is an issue, but Lehighton would like to have that problem and not be bypassed.

“We want to be able to confront that parking problem,” he said. “But right now, the way it’s happening with the borough (of Jim Thorpe), putting those things up and not allowing the left to go to Lehighton, we don’t know where the drivers are going, but I want the opportunity for them to make the choice. ... Imagine if the trains stopped coming. What would that do to Jim Thorpe? That’s what this has done (to Lehighton).”

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that he understands and also spoke about Lehighton’s bypass, which has also harmed the borough’s business district since it opened in 1984.

He said that Jim Thorpe Police Chief Joseph Schatz has always cited safety concerns as the reason for the barriers, and noted that the county does not own the roadway, that it is a state road and in the borough jurisdiction.

“We can’t go beyond that parking lot,” he said.

Miller said that safety is not an issue based on what state traffic reports state, adding that most crashes are fender benders inside the county lot.

“You can go back and look through 2022 reports and you’ll find that there’s minimal accidents that have happened outside that parking lot,” Miller said. “So safety, and I agree tourists are unpredictable and people in general, but right now, on paper, the safety thing doesn’t stand up.”

The commissioners said that this is really a borough and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation issue, but they understand Lehighton’s frustrations.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said that the county has had informal talks with members of Jim Thorpe Borough Council and he agrees with Miller’s comment that it appeared that “there was some level of insincerity in wanting to really work together” on Jim Thorpe’s part. Lukasevich also directed the businesses to speak with Andy Muller, owner of Reading and Northern Railroad, because he has voiced his desire to get a traffic light at the county lot entrance because he believes that would resolve the safety issue.

Schaeffer, who owns Jokers R Wild Cafe on First Street, said that the detour away from Lehighton has really hurt his business, which he has operated for six years.

He said that based on his records, from May to December last year, when the barriers were put in place in Jim Thorpe, his revenues dropped approximately $30,000.

“As a business, you need to look at what variables play in because a drop in your sales by $30,000 is a giant hit to a small business in an area already fighting blight, absentee landlords, one-way traffic and a bypass,” Schaeffer said. “The only variable that I can possibly see is the fact that a ‘quote safety issue’ has caused traffic to be rerouted. ... The safety issue has caused the rerouting of traffic away from downtown Lehighton. This is the only variable I can tell that has changed since 2018.”

He said that the borough has filed several Right To Know requests with PennDOT for reports and these reports do not show a safety issue at that intersection in question.

The business owners said that because of this barrier, several communities, not just Lehighton, are suffering.

The commissioners asked if the representatives met with state officials and other agencies, which they said they have met with people on the federal, state, county and borough levels with no right answer.

The state, they said, said it was a county and borough problem and not theirs even though it is a state road.

Schaeffer said that if need be, the business owners are prepared to file a lawsuit if it comes down to that because the believe the barrier is illegal based on their research.

Tina Henninger, owner of Wine and More on First Street, Lehighton, said that barriers like this require a permit and Jim Thorpe has not done any permitting nor has a traffic study been completed.

“It seems that Jim Thorpe borough is running roughshod over everyone,” Henninger said, citing the parking permits that now deter locals from visiting Jim Thorpe for a quick stop at a boutique because they have to park so far away.

“At this point, Jim Thorpe has become solely for the tourists,” she said. “Now they’re rerouting basically all of the traffic over the 903 bridge. Ten years ago it was difficult to get from Leffler’s to Annie’s Ice Cream, you were taking your life in your hands. Now it’s impossible and suicidal to even try and cross the street there. That’s the residential side of town. They should not be facing this impact either.”

The business owners asked that the commissioners again use their leverage to try and get some type of solution in the works to benefit everyone.

The commissioners said they would reach out to PennDOT officials and would even be willing to financially help if a traffic light at the entrance to the county lot would be a solution.