OLD TOWN – The first of three major paving and road improvement projects has begun in Old Town, and residents are advised to use the detours that have been set up by road crews.

Work began Monday paving Center Street and Stillwater Avenue, and this morning it will continue as crews work to pave the Main Street-Center Street intersection.

“Generally in the morning, that is a very busy intersection no matter what,” Old Town Police Capt. Kyle Smart said Monday. He added that traffic could get tied up in that area during the morning but advised travelers to seek alternate routes to avoid delays.

“If they follow the detours, they should be in pretty good shape,” Smart said. The construction foreman told the police captain on Monday that the detours seemed to be “working pretty well.”

Drivers coming from Milford and Bradley who are headed to Bangor or Brewer are encouraged to use Route 178, also known as the Bradley Road.

“It might be the longer route, but it’s going to be an easier one,” Smart said.

Main Street will be paved in the near future starting at the intersection and extending past the Georgia-Pacific Corp. paper mill.

Crews have started work on the area’s largest road project, the replacement of the Milford-Old Town bridge. That project isn’t expected to create a headache for travelers, as two lanes of traffic should remain open during most of the project, Smart said.

Reed & Reed, a general contracter from Woolwich, has started to clear the area and set up a field office last week.

“We’re getting the material and equipment moved in there,” Project Manager Ted Clark said Monday.

Construction of a detour bridge upstream from the existing bridge will begin the first week of July and is expected to take until September or October to complete.

Clark said he hopes to have the project completed by fall 2007.

“The whole bridge is going to be wider, and it’s going to be upstream slightly from the original bridge,” he said.