State and local officials will give residents their first chance to look at two proposals to reconstruct the roadwork in the center of town during an informational meeting next week.

Described by officials with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation as a problem of “chronic congestion,” Planning Director Jeff Gowan said the town lacked the proper traffic control mechanisms to keep the center of town from becoming clogged with motorists during peak hours both in the morning and the evening.

Officials are now asking for public input before beginning work on a $3.9 million project to replace the existing roadwork with a roundabout during an informational meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sherbourne Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Work on the project is scheduled to begin in 2011.

Officials have two variations on the plan to construct roundabout in the center of town. The first involves removing the existing fire station currently located right at the site of the project on the intersection of Route 111A, Nashua Street and Main Street. A second variation of the roundabout skirts the fire station, but would still limit the functionality of the facility.

Gowan described the fire station as a “political football” in Pelham, where voters have rejected several different proposals at varying price tags to either relocate or update the out-of- code station.

While the project will receive 80 percent funding from the federal government – with the remaining 20 percent from the state – retrofitting or rebuilding the fire station will come out of taxpayer pockets.

“The ulterior projects, like an accessory ambulance garage and things of that nature all will be discussed at the upcoming meeting,” Gowan said.

Planning for the reworking of Pelham’s center began a year and a half ago when local officials approached the NHDOT looking for a way to mitigate the traffic congestion. After studying traffic control mechanisms like signal lights or widening the lanes, Gowan said stakeholders in the town settled on a roundabout with state officials.

“They’re small and have traffic calming functionality – people come in at 20 miles an hour. They’re very, very effective,” Gowan said. “One (example) would be over at Revere College in Nashua. If you sit there during a peak-hour situation, you’ll see that it slows traffic down as they navigate through. It’s a very effective way to keep traffic moving.”