Necessary road work to Route 202 is delaying the opening of Alltown Market in Peterborough.
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is withholding Alltown’s driveway permit until work to expand Route 202 to allow installation of a turning lane is completed.
“The state has the right of way,” Peterborough Code Enforcement Officer Dario Cararra said. “They have to do the road work and I don’t know why they haven’t yet.”
Pete Throop, town community development director, said the road improvement is Alltown’s responsibility, even though it is to a state highway.
“I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault, per se, sometimes it just takes longer than other times,” he said.
Before the improvements can begin, the contractor needs permission from abbuting property owners to expand the roadway to create space for the new lane, which can take time.
“I think once they get the work done, they’ll probably get it done expeditiously,” Throop said. “I think they want to be open as much as we want them open,” he joked.
The turning lane will be for vehicles turning left into the gas station coming north from the direction of Jaffrey.
“You used to have to drive through the crater pot holes, around the person trying to turn left,” Cararra said.
Alltown is at the former site of Mr. Mike’s Market.
Throop said he did not know what the timeline might be for road work or the market opening.
He added, definitively, “The DOT. won’t issue the permit until the road improvements are done.”