A proposal for a $1.2 million grant from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation failed to muster much support at the Oct. 15 Northampton Borough Council meeting.

Lehigh Engineering Associates representative Larry Turoscy presented PowerPoint slides of the grant projections, which he said would reduce congestion of truck and car traffic on 21st Street and upper Main Street. Council was informed as many as 30 school buses at a time, along with trucks and other vehicles, are backed up in the area.

Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst said talks were underway with Lafarge Cement Company, Whitehall, to develop a large tract of land to relocate truck traffic. In the event the borough is successful in having the land donated or purchased, truck traffic crossing the Cementon-Northampton Bridge into the borough would turn on a projected road between the railroad tracks and CVS Pharmacy to head north to 24th Street. A traffic signal would be erected on 21st Street, at which truck traffic would be controlled heading toward 24th Street and Cherryville Road.

One of the stumbling blocks mentioned at the meeting was right-of-way approvals needed from Northampton Area School District and Cherry Square Shopping Center at 24th Street and Cherryville Road.

Turoscy said, in the event PennDOT approved the grant, the borough had the choice not to accept it should the allotted money be less than the $1.2 million.

It was also reported there could be additional grants to supplement the $1.2 million, so the project could continue to move forward.

However, the vote to take action on the grant never took place, since council President Anthony Lopsonzski Jr. failed to receive a motion from any council member regarding the agenda item.

Mayor Thomas Reenock expressed a willingness to have the project move forward, noting he has been pursuing such a major development for more than two decades.

Councilman Anthony Lopsonzski Sr. said he supports such a major project, foreseeing that the large tract could provide commercial development for a shopping center and other uses, along with alleviating heavy truck traffic on 21st Street.

Councilwoman Judy Kutzler expressed reservations the project could hurt the borough’s uptown businesses.

Council did not take any action on the $1.2 million grant. It was said the grant proposal can be submitted in 2021, noting other municipalities could also be submitting grants for their PennDOT projects.

The borough has already received a $20,000 grant from Northampton County, which involves the engineering studies presently underway.