Work has begun to convert the intersection of Route 202 and Old Concord Road on the border of Henniker and Hopkinton into a roundabout.
The project, scheduled to be finished in a year, will be a “hybrid roundabout” because the east-west travel of Route 202 will keep two lanes in each direction while the north-south travel of Old Concord Road, also known as State Route 127, will have just one lane in each direction.
Improving the intersection just west of the Contoocook River has been a topic of discussion for years: The first public meetings were held by the state Department of Transportation in 2021. Among other ideas, officials considered putting up a traffic light, which would be less expensive to build but would interfere with through traffic on a major east-west highway.
Travelers on Route 202 may know the intersection because it’s the site of a relatively isolated Dunkin’, the only commercial building on the highway in that area.
The roundabout will be in Hopkinton but will touch the town border.
Weaver Brothers Construction Company of Bow is the contractor for the $5.64 million project. It has a projection completion date of September 2026.