Lehighton Borough officials are awaiting word from Lehighton Area School District officials about what the next steps are for a potential traffic light at a dangerous intersection.

Borough Manager Dane DeWire told borough council on Monday that he previously sent a letter to the school district asking if it could provide the borough with an update on the Ninth and Bridge street project.

After the meeting, DeWire said while working with former Lehighton Area School District Superintendent Dr. Christine Fish, he asked her to instruct the design team to move the project forward on April 19.

However, as of the date of his letter to the school district on Nov. 14, no updates have been given, he said.

“There have been several motor vehicle accidents at this intersection in the last few years which may have been averted had the signal been in place,” DeWire said. “The most recent of which ironically occurred on the same date that our letter was submitted to the district.”

DeWire said the borough is now formally requesting a project update, including an anticipated project start date, as well as an anticipated project completion date.

He said the borough kindly asked the district to provide this information to borough council within 90 days, and that failure to provide the requested information would ultimately result in the borough taking action to encourage the school district to fulfill its obligations.

“The borough is anticipating a response from the school district by mid-February,” he said. “The borough hopes that Lehighton Area School District will fulfill their obligations, and that we will not be required to determine what steps need to be taken to ensure those obligations are met.”

Officials from both camps have discussed the topic on numerous occasions.

In April, Lehighton businessman Jay Davenport asked borough council if there was “anything making that corner any safer.”

Davenport, who owns Davenport Studios at 499 S. Ninth St., said at that meeting that a car came through his door (Ninth and Bridge streets) on Nov. 11 when two cars collided, and pushed the other car into the door of his business.

He suggested little red lights possibly be put underneath the stop sign so that motorists could better see the stop sign, especially at night when visibility is reduced.

Davenport said that ever since three lanes of traffic were put in, traffic moves faster.

He asked if there’s been any consideration about a traffic light being put up.

Council noted the borough previously made a separate agreement with Lehighton Area School District.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said she wanted the borough to reach out to the school district to see where they are.

In January 2022, Lehighton Area School Board approved an agreement acknowledging it would be its responsibility to pay for a traffic signal at the intersection of Bridge and Ninth streets if one is installed.

The agreement essentially upholds a memorandum of understanding signed by the district’s board of directors in 2017 when Lehighton’s new elementary center was being completed, accepting responsibility for installation of the signal when and if the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation deemed it necessary.

The traffic signal agreement was the only item holding up Lehighton Borough’s issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the elementary center to the district. The district received the certificate in the days after the board’s January 2022 meeting.

According to the MOU signed in 2017 and the agreement that was approved, the district was to place $10,000 in an escrow account at a bank chosen by the borough.

The borough would then draw from the account to pay for electricity, operation, maintenance, repair, restoration and/or replacement of the signal. After the $10,000 from the district was spent, all future costs would fall on the borough.

If PennDOT decides a traffic light is necessary, former Lehighton Area School District Business Manager Ed Rarick previously said the money would most likely be pulled from the district’s capital expenditure fund.