Plans to Upgrade Lebanon’s Mechanic Street Hit Roadblock

Plans to upgrade a busy stretch of road connecting Lebanon’s two business districts may have hit a roadblock.

This coming after it was revealed the project was not included in the state’s most recent draft of its 10-year transportation plan. According to the Valley News, the project had been included in previous versions of the plan that covers the years 2017 through 2026, and identifies the state’s top funding priorities.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation updates drafts regularly, though the Mechanic Street project is the only Upper Valley project to be cut so far. City officials have said the project is a high priority due to poor road conditions, dangerous intersections along High and Mascoma Streets, and a lack of sidewalks for pedestrians.

Mechanic Street – on a portion of what is also Route 4 – is the only east-west road other than I-89 to connect Lebanon and West Lebanon.