WEST PARIS – A $750,000 road reconstruction project for Main Street is nearing completion and may be finished by the end of August, town officials said.

The mile-long project started in 2001 and covers a stretch of Main Street from the railroad tracks to Kingsbury Street.

Pike Industries has completed grinding the old surface from the Bradeen residence to Kingsbury Street, and the town highway crew has set new storm drains in place as well as preparing the area for sidewalks, Selectman Wade Rainey said.

“The storm drains are in and the old sidewalk has been removed and the surface lowered,” Rainey said, “so the rebuild for the surface of the street can be completed.”

Rainey added, “The plan is to lower the rise on the corner by the Benson residence and reslope the corner to address safety issues there.”

Once the rebuild on the current section is completed the final phase of the Main Street rebuild project will be joined to work done over the past four years. That work included the same type of project from the railroad tracks to the Bradeen residence and from Kingsbury Street to Pioneer street.

Along with the rebuild of the street the West Paris Water District has also replaced the old water mains with modern piping and installed new connections to homes along the way.

Rainey said, “Once the project is done it will mean the end of state grant money Main Street. The costs for the work from the railroad to Pioneer Street has been funded with the state paying 75 percent and the town being responsible for the other 25 percent.”

During the upcoming construction, motorists will be able to detour around Pioneer Street to access Trap Corner and Route 26.

In other business last Thursday it was announced by Rainey, who is also a certified tax assessor, that the latest report regarding growth for the town shows a growth in 2005 about $1 million in new housing.

“What has taken place over the last year in regards to local taxation is about normal for the town,” he said.