City promises this year’s road work will be less disruptive

LACONIA — Road projects around the city will begin in just over a month and will last through October, according to information presented to the City Council.

The projects will take place in Weirs Beach, Lakeport, and the South End. They have been timed so only one will be going on at any one time, City Manager Scott Myers told the council on Monday.

Last year, major road construction was taking place simultaneously on Court Street and parts of Messer Street and Union Avenue, upsetting business owners and frustrating motorists who had to drive on long stretches of torn-up streets, and take circuitous detours.

Myers and then-Mayor Ed Engler promised last October that road projects would cause less inconvenience this year.

The first job will be replacing the Route 3 bridge which spans the railroad tracks in Weirs Beach.

The bridge will be closed to all traffic for 30 days, starting between April 6 and April 13, Myers said. A temporary railroad crossing will be set up for use by emergency vehicles only, he said. Once the bridge deck is replaced, the bridge will then open up to alternating one-way traffic until the remaining work is completed before Memorial Day.

Once the Weirs bridge work is completed, construction will begin on rebuilding Union Avenue in Lakeport, from Walnut Street to Stark Street, a distance of about two-tenths of a mile. That project will include underground work on water, sewer, and gas utilities, as well as storm drains. The work will be suspended during Motorcycle Week, which runs from June 13 to June 21. The project is scheduled to be done by the end of September.

At that point, work is expected to begin to replace the bridge over Durkee Brook on Court Street.

Myers said that will require closing Court Street to through traffic and, because there are no side streets running parallel to Court Street in that area, traffic on Route 3 will have to be detoured over the Laconia Bypass.

The dates when the bridge replacement work will occur are still undetermined, according to Public Works Director Wes Anderson. The project will be going out to bid soon, he said.

Several members of the council hoped the work could be scheduled so Court Street would not be closed during the Pumpkin Festival, scheduled for Oct. 16 and 17.

In addition to the three main projects, paving work is being scheduled on Court Street, from Main Street to Keasor Court, on Union Avenue from Lakeport Square to Messer Street, and on Beacon Street West.

Each of the two paving jobs are scheduled to last two days — Court Street in late April, while the work between Lakeport Square and Messer Street will be scheduled to coincide with the paving between Walnut and Stark streets. Before the stretch south of Lakeport Square can be paved, Public Works crews will make alterations to the sidewalks, manholes, catch basins, and valve boxes, Anderson explained.

The paving on Beacon Street West from Pleasant Street to the bridge is scheduled to take place before Motorcycle Week. The street will be closed for one day prior to the paving, while part of the surface of the street is removed.

The Public Works Department will be making handicap-accessibility improvements at two intersections. Work will start at the Main Street-Church Street intersection in early spring. The Union Avenue and Messer Street intersection is scheduled for fall in coordination with paving on Union Avenue. Both intersections will be upgraded with sloping curb ramps which include a detectable warning device with a raised dome surface and contrasting color, and new pedestrian signal lights with countdown timers which tell pedestrians how many seconds they have left to cross the street.