WORCESTER - Pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle access to Kelley Square will be maintained throughout the 13-month construction project, according to a plan presented by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation on Wednesday night. But the project necessitates work at night and detours for short periods on some nights and weekends.

Officials with the engineering firm VHB and MassDOT held a public hearing Wednesday night at Worcester Academy on the latest iteration of plans for a $17 million project to reconfigure Kelley Square by adding a traffic “peanut” in the center and rerouting various one-way streets in the neighborhood.

MORE INFO: KELLEY SQUARE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Officials presented two topics: an update on the design, and the construction schedule.

The design of the project is now at the 100 percent phase, with only a few small matters still to be decided, officials said, and little has changed since the 25 percent design was presented months ago.

Still, several people expressed skepticism that the plan would improve traffic flow and safety.

Resident Glenn Ford, for instance, said the plan forces more traffic onto Green Street than that street could handle. He also said that reversing the direction of sections of Harding Street and Millbury Street would lead to more crashes.

In response to questions, engineers affirmed that the largest Worcester fire truck could maneuver through the designed project, that snow removal was considered in the design, and that flashing pedestrian signs would be connected with crosswalks.

But the majority of the meeting concerned the construction plan.

VHB engineer Don Cooke and Tom Emerick, an assistant district project development engineer with MassDOT's District 3, noted that the contractor could still change the plan, subject to MassDOT and city approval.

But officials presented a plan they said would keep at least one lane of traffic in each direction moving through the square, provide pedestrian access to at least one side of the street, and maintain entrances and exits for abutting properties.

The plan does this by dividing construction into two phases and seven stages - the first four stages focusing on Kelley Square proper and the last three stages focused on Madison Street near the planned ballpark.

Stage 1 would remove the existing islands in Kelley Square; start road, curb, and sidewalk construction on Harding, Green and Madison streets near the square; and begin building a mini-roundabout at the intersection of Arwick Avenue, Millbury and Harding streets.

The reversal of Millbury and Harding streets - complete with striping and traffic signal changes - would occur in between this phase and the second stage.

Stage 2 would establish the peanut, continue curb and sidewalk work, and complete the mini-roundabout.

Stage 3 consists of road, sidewalk and curb work on the north side of Kelley Square.

Stage 4 would remove drums and cones that marked secondary islands in the square and make these islands permanent. This stage would also include striping and landscaping.

Stages 5 through 7 would focus on road, sidewalk, and curb work on different sections of Madison Street west of Washington Street, near the ballpark.

A timetable for when the stages will start and how long they will last is not yet available.

The project is expected to go out to bid in July. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and finish in November 2020.