Key Road roundabout delayed to 2023, city says
Nov. 11—Due to utility delays, the roundabout project at the intersection of Winchester Street and Key Road in Keene won't be finished until next year, the city announced in an emailed notice this week.
The work to replace the current four-way signalized intersection there started in July and was previously estimated to be finished for November or December of this year.
The city expects the new roundabout will reduce traffic delays in the area.
In an email to The Sentinel on Monday, City Engineer Donald Lussier said the intersection will operate with a traffic signal through the winter, and construction of the roundabout will proceed as soon as weather permits in the spring, likely early to mid-April.
Lussier wrote that the city had been working with private utility companies beginning in 2019 to plan for the relocation of their equipment such as utility poles, to make room for construction. According to Lussier, in December the city notified these companies that their equipment within the city's right-of-way would need to be relocated by Aug. 1.
"Unfortunately, the last of the poles within the 2022 work area was not removed until the last week of October," he wrote. "As a result, the City's contractor was not able to complete the construction of the Roundabout at Key Road."
According to a project update the city emailed Tuesday, the work remaining for spring 2023 will include curbing for the median islands and the western side of the street, installing sidewalks and putting in signs and lighting.
The notice also said BUR Construction was scheduled to begin temporary line-painting on Winchester Street, as well as on Key Road and the entrance to Riverside Plaza this past Wednesday.
Once that work is done, the notice said all traffic traveling through the corridor would be shifted to the western side of Winchester Street to allow road crews to begin line striping on the opposite side of the roadway. After that, traffic will be moved to the eastern side to allow workers to stripe the western side.
Then, the city says concrete barriers will be shifted to allow two lanes of travel in each direction, to resemble the existing pattern on the street.
The roundabout at the Key Road intersection is one of two being planned for Winchester Street, in addition to the existing one at the intersection of Route 101. The other new roundabout will be at the intersection of Island and Pearl streets, Lussier told The Sentinel in June. At the time, he said construction on that roundabout is expected to begin next spring. In his email, he wrote that he expects that work to still commence on schedule.
Estimated as of Nov. 14 at about $10.7 million, 80 percent of the entire project — which also includes the reconstruction of the Island Street Bridge — is being funded by the N.H. Department of Transportation, with the city covering the remaining costs.
Anyone who wants to receive updates on the roundabout's construction can sign up to do so at keenewinchesterstreet.com.
This article has been updated to include a response from City Engineer Donald Lussier.
Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.
