The Tamaqua Area Community Partnership is hoping to create a downtown walkway that would border the Little Schuylkill River.

Last week, the Tamaqua Borough Council approved the filing of a draft application for the project.

The application will be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program.

The proposed river walk would connect East Broad Street to Cedar Street along the west side of the river.

“The partnership is looking to expand the river walk,” a paved stretch near the Boyer’s Food Store on Cedar Street, council President Brian Connely explained during this week’s council meeting. “They’ve acquired some property so this is basically an initial application to see where we can go with it and take it from there.”

Connely noted that the partnership will complete all the application work, and the borough simply had to approve the application.

“We’ll see what happens. It doesn’t hurt to apply,” Connely said.

The partnership purchased a 233 Cedar St. home that borders the river last year.

Plans are for a street level walkway with places to fish, gather and relax. The idea for the project surfaced in the Tamaqua 2001 Community Action Plan.

According to PennDOT, the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.