BUCKFIELD – Construction on Route 117 in Buckfield is expected to come to a halt for the season this week.

A section of road from the center of town to the Buckfield Mall will get its base paved Thursday, after Tuesday’s rainstorm delayed the work. Paving of that section is expected to end major work this fall.

“They had hoped to have been done this fall, but they had to dig out and rebuild part of the road,” explained Town Manager Glen Holmes. Unexpected material was found in one section of the road that required a complete rebuild.

The 6-mile project begins at the intersection of Routes 117 and 140 in Buckfield and extends east along Route 117 to Route 4 in Turner.

Workers from K&K Excavation of Turner, which was awarded the contract on a bid of nearly $5.6 million, will fully pave the road next spring, Holmes said.

“Things seem to be going pretty smoothly,” Holmes said of the project that is contracted to be completed in June 2008.

The overall project was designed to reduce bumps and dips in the existing pavement, ease some curves and replace drainage structures. Additionally, roadbeds will be rebuilt in some areas while other areas receive a variable-depth layer of gravel on top of the existing roadway to form the base for new pavement, according to Maine Department of Transportation officials.

The department has estimated that at least 3,400 cars travel from Buckfield to Turner on an average day. That number is expected to increase to 4,220 in 2018. About 11 percent of the traffic is trucks, according to information from the state. The highway connects Route 4 in Turner to Route 26 in Paris.