By Gail Geraghty

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — If you travel Route 302 from Bridgton to Fryeburg on a regular basis, you might have an interest in attending a final public meeting to discuss an upcoming $6.4 million road reconstruction project planned for next summer.

Bob Carrell of the Maine Department of Transportation will review the preliminary design and take questions and concerns at the meeting, set for Wednesday, Sept. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy. The five-mile-long project extends from the Saco River in Fryeburg to Stack Em Inn Road in Bridgton, just before the Moose Pond Causeway.

The shoulders will be rebuilt as well as paved, and some actual highway widening may occur in some places, Carrell has said. There’ll be new drainage installed in some places and some minor adjustment to the center alignment of the highway to improve sight distances. The rehabilitation will make the highway appear wider and safer, since there’s been considerable degrading of the gravel shoulders over the years, causing crowning.

Existing pavement will be chewed up and reused as a bed for the new pavement surface, and there’ll be some curbing improvements, according to Carrell. Rights-of-way will need to be acquired in some locations.

Following the Sept. 25 meeting, MDOT will finalize the design and may begin roadwork clearing this fall. The bulk of the construction is scheduled for the summer of 2014.