The mayor of a rapidly growing town outside St. John's said the time has come to expand a highway running through his community.

Paradise Mayor Ralph Wiseman said the town is growing so rapidly, traffic is clogging Topsail Road, a major artery that runs from St. John's straight through his community.

However, it turns abruptly from four lanes to two, causing traffic snarls — and not just during morning and evening commuting times.

"I don't see it as a problem," Wiseman said Thursday, describing how residents may react to a proposed expansion through what a generation ago was rural land.

"Topsail Road is four lane right out to St. John's from Paradise Road. I don't think anybody came here thinking that they would build a house on Topsail Road and it would always remain two-lane," he said.

The 2006 census counted 12,584 residents in Paradise, a 31 per cent increase from just five years earlier.

The town added 466 houses last year, and an additional 300 are expected to be built this year.

Wiseman said a wider road will not interfere with any existing houses.

The construction project would last three years, he said, and cost more than $7 million.