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Accessing the Lehigh Valley’s largest shopping mall might get a lot harder.

Lehigh Valley Mall management requested that the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) move its transit center off the property when the lease expires in June.

LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil said in a statement that mall management expressed “safety concerns” about the current location of the transit center and the extent to which buses need to travel on mall property.

“LANTA and Lehigh Valley Mall management have been cooperating in a process to identify an alternative that addresses the needs and concerns of LANTA and our riders, as well the Mall and its tenants,” O’Neil said.

A spokesperson for Lehigh Valley Mall management told WHYY News in a statement that the mall has been in discussions with LANTA to identify a new location for the transit center.

“Nothing at this point in time has been decided,” the spokesperson said.

Simon Property Group, which manages the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township just north of Allentown, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. Craig Beavers, a member of the Allentown City Planning Commission, said the transit center is more than a way for people without cars to get to the mall.

“It’s a major employment hub for people to have access to work and jobs,” Beavers said. “And this also serves as a major transit hub for the region. This is the only way to get to the airport from several parts of the Lehigh Valley and if it gets kicked out of the mall, then without a solution in place, it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

At a time where the industry is attempting to make a cultural comeback, Beavers finds it “strange” that the Lehigh Valley Mall is removing an access point. He doesn’t know how Simon came to this decision.