The Carbon County commissioners on Thursday acknowledged receipt of a master site plan that would shift the Delaware & Lehigh trail connection that cuts through the county parking lot closer to the Lehigh River.

But don't expect to see construction any time soon.Officials are still exploring ways to pay for any construction, and want to wait for a pedestrian bridge currently under construction to be finished before moving ahead on reconfiguring the parking lot section of trail.The bottom line, said Commissioner William J. O'Gurek, is the safety of bicyclists and hikers who would be coming off the pedestrian bridge near the rain station, and from the opposite end of the parking lot from the Lehigh Gorge area."There's not a lot of room out there. We're concerned about the safety," he said.Now, the trail leaves Lehigh Gorge State Park, goes through the rail yard and then through the county parking lot. Eventually, it will connect with the remainder of the trail via a pedestrian foot bridge over the river near Turkey Hill on Susquehanna Street.The master site plan includes alternatives, O'Gurek said."The plan gives a Cadillac version versus a simplified version of what the alternatives are," he said."All of them cost money, but I think it's safe to say that we would like pedestrians and bikers and hikers to be safe," O'Gurek said."If we can some day create that environment where they're not where cars are going up and down the parking lot, that would probably be our goal. I think we'll be working toward that as a board, with the help of the county administrator, PennDOT and the D&L," he said."It's something for the future. How far down the line, we don't know. But we certainly want to see the (pedestrian) bridge get done first before we create any more confusion out there in the lot."O'Gurek said grant money may be available.County Administrator Eloise Ahner participated in a webinar Thursday afternoon to learn more about a state Department of Transportation's "transportation alternative set-aside" program.Under the program, the county could apply for money to build and preserve bicycle and pedestrian trails."In the next couple weeks, we'll probably be applying for that," O'Gurek said."Ideally, we'd like to get the traffic out of the county parking lot."He said county officials will be meeting with D&L representatives to discuss the matter.One idea is to paint logos in the parking lot to keep pedestrians and cyclists in one area.The commissioners on Sept. 1, 2016, awarded a contract for consulting services for the master site plan for the D&L Trail connection and trail head through the county lot in Jim Thorpe to Simone Collins of Hanover Engineering Associates at a cost of up to $21,290.The plan also looks at future locations for a county maintenance garage, incorporating an observation deck and gathering area along the river, additional improvements in the access to the river.A $10,000 Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape mini-grant from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council helped pay for the study.