As a planned pair of roundabouts in the Jaffrey downtown enters the final design phases, residents can anticipate a three-year construction season, starting in April of 2025.

Representatives from the Department of Transportation and the town’s contracted design team met with residents in an informational session at the Jaffrey Fire Station Tuesday to discuss the phases of the project and what residents can expect.

The project is on state-owned roads, with the majority of the costs covered by the Department of Transportation. Jaffrey will take on costs of some additional design elements such as landscaping and fixtures, where the town is requesting specific items. The construction project includes a roundabout in the center of downtown on Main Street at the intersection of Main Street, Route 202, Blake Street, Stratton Road and Route 124. A three-way roundabout is also planned for River Street and Route 202, which will connect to the Main Street roundabout by a bridge spanning the Contoocook River, creating a bypass for Route 202 traffic.

Access to homes and businesses would be maintained throughout the entirety of the construction project. When work is being completed directly in front of a property, the Department of Transportation will work with individual property owners to determine when access may be limited for safety to complete the work, such as closing a sidewalk in front of a business or completing a tie-in for driveways exiting onto the road.

Pedestrian access would also be assured throughout the course of the project, though would include detours at some points. Work would happen only during the daylight hours.

Timeline for construction

Currently, the town and its contractor, Toole Design, have been working with the Department of Transportation on landscape and architectural design elements, including plantings and town signs to be included in the islands of the roundabouts, trees along Peterborough Street, design of crosswalks, lighting fixtures and benches and bike racks.

As part of that process, the town is working on creating a pocket park in the location of the former Lab ‘n’ Lager, which will include some historical information signs, a picnic area and a slip lane to allow snowmobilers to continue to access the rail trail from the connecting trail on Peterborough Street.

While those discussions are ongoing, the Department of Transportation is also working through the permitting process with the state’s Department of Environmental Services and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers related to the construction of the new bridge over the Contoocook River. The final permits are anticipated to be granted this summer.

The project is anticipated to go out to bid this summer, and the first of the construction phases is scheduled to begin of April of 2025.

The first phase of the project will be the construction of the bridge spanning the Contoocook River, and the Blake Street connection. It will include the construction of a new municipal parking area, which will replace the current public parking that will be eliminated due to the bridge connection.

In June, while bridge construction is ongoing, construction on the River Street improvements and roundabout would begin.

At the start of the next construction season in 2026, work on the northern side of River Street would continue, and improvements to Stratton Road would be completed by August. In August, construction on the five-legged roundabout on Main Street would commence, and continue through June of 2027.

In 2027, between June and November, the remainder of improvements to Main Street would be completed. Final paving, striping and landscape elements would be complete by March of 2028.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertransript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.