'Recession' might be the most commonly heard word when it comes to the economy these days. But despite the slowdown, several major projects are in the works around the North Shore.

From a $100 million courthouse in Salem to a new Salisbury "village," these seven developments have the potential to transform their communities.

1. Medical center to open in Newburyport

The Newburyport Medical Center, a 43,000-square-foot facility that will neighbor Anna Jaques Hospital, will house a cancer-treatment center that will provide patients the convenience of a one-stop facility for oncology treatment, and will be the first of its kind in the North of Boston region.

As part of the construction, the center will provide a long-awaited and much-needed access road to Anna Jaques Hospital, making it easier for patients and emergency vehicles to get to the hospital, which is working closely with the new center.

Needham-based Murphy and McManus, which developed institutions such as Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical centers in Chelsea and Brockton, is joining with local landowner Tom Jones on the center.

Dr. Walt Kagan, the president of Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology, the largest private-practice cancer-treatment program in New England, is the anchor tenant of the new building. Developers say construction will start in the spring and doctors hope to be serving patients by the end of the year.

Kagan said cancer treatment can be vigorous, with as many as five times a week for several weeks straight, which means a lot of travel time for local cancer patients. Often, local patients are forced to travel to other hospitals for radiation and then back to Newburyport for chemotherapy.

"That is a long way to go when you are not feeling well," Kagan said. "The thing that is exciting from the community's perspective is that there has never been the availability of radiation therapy in the community. Now, everything a patient needs will be right there in Newburyport."

2. Construction on transportation center to begin

Construction could begin soon on a long-anticipated Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority in Amesbury. The MVRTA plans to collect bids to build a new transportation center in Amesbury's Lower Millyard as soon as town officials complete the interior design of the building where municipal offices will be located.

First proposed about seven years ago, the transportation center will be owned and operated by the MVRTA, a Haverhill-based public transportation agency that provides bus service throughout the region. For Amesbury officials, the center is viewed as a key piece to its long-awaited plans to renovate and revitalize the town's Lower Millyard area in the downtown.

A $6.5 million renovation was recently completed on the town's Upper Millyard that renewed three buildings into 46 artisan live/work condominiums and a heritage/historic museum space.

The two-story, 11,600-square-foot transportation center will offer bus lines and van services to commuters traveling in local towns and into Boston.

The remainder of the $7 million building will be used by the Senior Center and hold the offices of the other Health and Human Services departments.

3. CVS looks to downtown Salisbury

It's not often a pharmacy would be considered one of the most pressing developments in a town's future. But in Salisbury, where a developer is looking to build partnerships with beach district property owners to redevelop the area, the CVS coming to downtown got its share of scrutiny.

The pharmacy, which broke ground last month, will serve as a cornerstone to the town's new "village style"-zoned downtown at the cross of routes 1 and 110.

Under the town's new zoning for the downtown, the village style will be a radical departure for Salisbury Square. Storefronts would be built close to street corners, with parking lots behind the buildings. It would mimic an old-fashioned downtown.

Town planners forced developer Scott Mitchell to redesign his pharmacy to a village style that placed the parking behind the building.

The pharmacy, the only one in town, will be the second major piece to the downtown renewal, following the construction of a $2 million signature branch of the Institution for Savings in 2006, which became the only bank in town.

4. Salem court construction

It has been nearly three years since former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey announced plans to build a new state courthouse on Federal Street in Salem. Finally, work is set to begin.

Although major construction of the $106 million J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center won't start until later this year, a lot of preliminary work is ready to go. Three old houses on Federal Street are about to be removed — two will be demolished and one will be moved to a new site. Road work on a new intersection next to the court site also is about to begin.

By late summer, the 200-year-old First Baptist Church, which is on the construction site, will be moved a short distance to the corner of Federal and North streets, where it will become the law library for the new courthouse.

The court complex, which is scheduled to be completed in 2011, is arguably the most important economic development project in the city. There are hundreds of jobs at stake in the courts and at the Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, and more in the private law, real estate and title examiners' offices across the city.

The new mega-courthouse will include superior, district, juvenile and housing courts. The registry of deeds, which has been inside the Family & Probate Court building next to this site, is moving to Shetland Park, an office complex on the waterfront, and may move back to the District Court building on Washington Street when its lease expires.

There is an additional $60 million earmarked, but not yet approved, in a state bond bill to renovate the Family and Probate Court building. That was part of the original project, but had to be eliminated when costs skyrocketed.

5. Salem bypass road

The $15 million Bridge Street bypass road in Salem will open this summer.

"It's about 95 percent complete," said Klark Jessen, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Highway Department.

A state contractor began work two years ago and has built most of the road, which will run from the Veterans Memorial Bridge to downtown Salem. Work shut down over the winter, but should start up again soon.

"We're intending to go back in the next week or two," Bob Mabardy, the executive vice president of the Middlesex Corp. of Littleton, said in late March.

The road is being built to ease the flow of traffic from Beverly to downtown Salem. As an alternate to congested Bridge Street, motorists will be able to take the one-mile roadway along the North River, reconnecting with Bridge Street near the old Salem Jail.

While the road is largely completed, the contractor still has to build sound barriers, complete fencing and landscaping, install traffic signals, erect signs, and do the final paving and lane markings.

"We hope to be completed in August or late summer," said Jessen.

6. Health center expansions

Danvers and Peabody are witnessing a boom of new medical facilities focused on outpatient care.

Northeast Health System completed its $30 million Beverly Hospital at Danvers Medical and Day Surgery Center in November. At the foot of the former Danvers State Hospital on Route 62, it includes physicians' offices, a day surgery center and a variety of specialized centers including breast health, pain management and travel medicine.

The Lahey Clinic at the Northshore Mall is in the midst of a $50 million expansion, adding a three-story wing that will make room for an expanded emergency department, a center on sleep disorders and other specialty programs. The project will also include 15,000 square feet for Children's Hospital Boston, which already has an outpatient program at the clinic. Opening is planned for next spring.

The largest project of the three is the $144 million Mass General/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care on Endicott Street in Danvers. The hospital broke ground in September, and now the steel is up and crews are buttoning up the three-story building, said Jean Graham, a hospital spokeswoman.

The center will include cardiac diagnostics, a day surgery center, and the MGH/North Shore Cancer Center all under one roof. There will also be a medical office building with space for 50 physicians.

This work coincides with $30 million in renovations to Salem Hospital, which is creating private inpatient units and a new, 20-bed intensive care unit.

The new facilities are designed to bring high-quality care to the North Shore, sparing patients the trek to Boston, and boosting the local economy along the way.

> >