The contractor and utility companies will continue installing drainage structures, transferring utility cables, relocating a water main on Mascoma Street, and working on the stone retaining wall. The pedestrian detour for the project has changed to accommodate work on the Mechanic Street side. Pedestrians will be directed to cross through the center of the roundabout with assistance from flaggers. Please expect delays and use caution in the work zone.

Monday August 3 – Wednesday August 5

The City of Lebanon has been notified that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) will be conducting an unexpected bridge inspection that requires the closure of the rail trail tunnel beneath Hanover Street.

The tunnel will be closed to all pedestrians and bicyclists while the inspection is underway.

Please follow the posted detour shown on the attached map. Due to the length of the detour and anticipated congestion in the downtown area, the City encourages trail users to avoid the area entirely if possible during the closure.

The City appreciates the public’s patience and understanding while NHDOT completes this inspection. The tunnel is expected to reopen once the inspection has been completed and NHDOT determines it is safe to do so.

For your safety:

• Do not enter the closed tunnel.
• Follow all posted signs and barricades.
• Use caution when traveling along the detour route and crossing downtown streets.

It looks as if access to the MRG at the Mascom/Mechanic/High Street access is going to be unpredictable until the end of July. If you have wondered about those enigmatic “Rail Trail” signs that seem randomly posted along Mascoma and Mechanic Street, this map of the suggested alternative route will show the switch backs that help explain the signs . . . and will probably make you want to avoid the problem.

Walkers are expected to zigzag back and forth through the area. and slip through the Eastman Automotive parking lot pass-through. Bicycles are to function like cars on the right shoulder of the road. then pass through Eastman. You may find the NRT the best choice until the work is completed. For more info see the official alert at https://lebanonnh.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/6310

It has been frustrating to have the Mechanic/Mascoma/High Street intersection closed off in preparation for a roundabout . . . and the suggested “Rail Trail ” signs were enigmatic. But this afternoon, the access was opened. There may be more blockages to come, but, as of this afternoon, the entrance at that intersection has been cleared.

We Upper Valley folk have endured a lot of cold and rain of late – finally, T-shirt weather!

An alert from Dan Moriarty’s early morning walk yesterday:

“The other point of interest today is the large patch of Poison Ivy that people should be aware of on the Glen Road Gate MRG unpaved entrance trail. The patch starts about a hundred yards down the trail on the left and goes almost to the point where the trail bends to the right to head uphill to the bridge. People should be aware of it in case they let their dogs roam on the trail, and they happen into that patch. If the owner then pats their dog or happens to brush up against them, they might get an unpleasant surprise later with burning and itching from the poison ivy oil that was on the dog’s coat. The poison Ivy will change color during Spring, Summer and Fall but the best word of advice to remember is the old Boy Scout maxim: “leaves of three, let it be”. Poison Ivy has three leaves.”

Be on the alert for egg-laying snapping turtles on the MRG behind the movie theaters on the “Miracle Mile”. Imagine the effort to get her cumbersome body up the slope from the river, and finding a diggable spot to lay her many eggs. Here is Dan Moriartys report from this morning:

“I approached the Steel Umbrella right next to the Hope Foundation side trail. There was a female snapping turtle looking around to where she was going to build a nest to lay her eggs. She was in the exact same location that I had taken a photo of a turtle laying eggs two years earlier on 5/26/2024.”

5/26/2024

Pollinator Plants Find New Home

Lebanon Recreation, Arts, and Parks Posted on May 12, 2026

Volunteer gardeners Joan McGovern, Barbara Slaiby, and Jessy Elfstrom joined Recreation, Arts, and Parks Department staff gardener, Susan Johnson Sunday, May 10, 2026, to carefully transplant a mature pollinator garden from the Mascoma River Greenway trailhead, where construction of the new Mechanic/High/Mascoma Streets Roundabout is beginning. The garden was established by Pat McGovern, and without the relocation effort, the established plants would have been lost during construction activities.

With permission from Goss Logan Insurance, the garden was successfully moved to the hillside near the Lebanon Pedestrian Tunnel entrance, creating a new space for both pollinators and visitors to enjoy. The transplanted garden will continue to provide important habitat and seasonal color along the Greenway.

Plants relocated during the project included Purple Coneflowers, Rudbeckia, Asters, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinths, Golden Alexanders, Bellflowers, Coreopsis, Daylilies, Bearded and Blue Flag Iris, Obedient Plant, Chrysanthemums, and Liatris.

Special thanks to the volunteers and community partners who worked together to save and replant this pollinator garden.

Here’s a message of this chilly morning’s missed photo op on the MRG from Dan Moriarty:

“I missed a unique photo op this morning . I was walking down MRG and had just passed Terrace View Condos. I was looking to the right downhill towards the pond for wildlife.

Out of the corner of my left eye, I noted something moving onto the trail uphill from Gardner Supply. It was a huge magnificent beaver. He waddled onto the trail, stopped, sat up and looked at me. He was about 20 feet away.I was dressed warm because it was 30 degrees out. My phone was zipped in my anorak front pouch and I had big mittens on. I tried to get my mittens off fast, unzip my pouch, take my phone out, cycle it on and take a photo. Phone took too long to cycle on.

Beaver sat there watching me fumble around, then turned around and went back downhill toward Gardners Supply. He was out of sight by time phone cycled on. I thought he would have headed across trail toward pond downhill on other side.”

If you spot this magnificent beaver or other interesting wildlife on the MRG please submit your photo and story to mcgovern.patricia(AT)gmail.com