Selectmen Andy Lawn, Charlie Turcotte, Development Projects Coordinator JoAnne Carr, Selectman Franklin Sterling, and Project Manager Zacharty Paight lead the way. Credit: LIISA RAJALA / Ledger-Transcript 
Development Projects Coordinator JoAnne Carr, Selectman Franklin Sterling, Project Manager Zachary Paight, Select Board Chair Charlie Turcotte and Selectman Andy Lawn open the new bridge. Credit: LIISA RAJALA / Ledger-Transcript 
Residents cross the new bridge for the first time the day before its official opening. Credit: BECKY NEWTON / Courtesy 
Residents cross the new bridge for the first time the day before its official opening. Credit: BECKY NEWTON / Courtesy 
Selectman Andy Lawn, left, Select Board Chair Charlie Turcotte, Development Projects Coordinator JoAnne Carr, Selectman Frank Sterling, and Zachary Paight, NHDOT Project Manager, lead the first crossing. Credit: BECKY NEWTON / Courtesy 
A view of the new bridge from Veterans’ Park. Credit: BECKY NEWTON / Courtesy 
Selectman Frank Sterling and Jaffrey Development Project Coordinator JoAnne Carr and Select Board Chair Charlie Turcotte cut the ribbon to open the bridge. Credit: PAUL FULLER / Courtesy
After a summer of construction, the Jaffrey Select Board held a ceremony on Thursday evening to officially open a new bridge spanning the Contoocook River, which will act as a connector for Route 202 traffic to bypass Main Street.
The bridge is part of a larger New Hampshire Department of Transportation project that will include the construction of two new roundabouts at either end of the bridge — one at River Street and one at the five-way intersection of Blake Street, Main Street, Turnpike Road (Route 124), Peterborough Street (Route 202) and Stratton Road. Roundabout construction will continue next year.
The $23 million state Department of Transportation project eliminates the “dog-leg” connection for Route 202 traffic and is designed to reduce downtown congestion.
Residents who attended the opening ceremony walked across the bridge, christening it before it was officially opened to traffic on Friday. Members of the Select Board and Jaffrey Project Development Coordinator JoAnne Carr cut a ribbon after the crossing, followed by an ice cream party at Station 16 in Jaffrey.