Water main project in heart of downtown will re-route traffic for 3 to 4 weeks

LACONIA — The Laconia Water Works (LWW) and Busby Construction Company, Inc. began work this week replacing water lines in and around the intersection of Pleasant Street and Main Street, at the center of downtown.

Seth Nuttelman,superintendent of the LWW, said yesterday that he anticipates that the three to four weeks will be required to complete the project, during which the intersection will be closed to through traffic. The work area resembles an arrow, with the southernmost leg of Pleasant Street the shaft and the pedestrian walkway toward Beacon Street and the stretch of Main Street to Hanover Street representing the arrowhead. Pleasant Street will be open only to local traffic and motorists leaving the area will be detoured through the municipal parking lot to Main Street. The entire length of Main Street itself, from Court Street to Church Street, will remain open to northbound traffic.

Niuttelman said that approximately 350 feet of 12-inch and 8-inch water pipe will be replaced within the work zone. He explained that the existing pipe must be excavated and the new pipe laid around a dense web of other utilities — gas lines, sewer mains, storm drains, telephone conduits, and fiberoptic cable. "We've got everything under the sun down there," he said, noting the many markings in colored chalk on the pavement made to guide the excavation.

Nuttelman estimated the cost of the project at $70,000, which includes labor, materials and equipment.