Norwell’s May Town Meeting will decide whether to spend $200,000 on about half a mile of new sidewalk on Main Street, a contentious initiative in the town.

The plan calls for extending the current sidewalk from South Street to Circuit Street — just past Town Hall and Norwell Middle School, according to town planning director Kenneth Kirkland. The sidewalk begins at the Hanover line.

The project would cost an estimated $500,000, Kirkland said. The town already has a commitment for $200,000 from the state and $100,000 from a sidewalk fund controlled by the Planning Board, he said.

The Town Meeting request comes from the town’s Complete Streets Committee, which said residents’ first priority for sidewalks in town was along Main Street, Kirkland said. He said the ultimate objective is to build sidewalks all the way to Norwell Center, which is now accessible only by car.

Sidewalks along Main Street have been debated and fought over in town for years.

In 2015, Town Meeting approved using $1.4 million in Community Preservation Act money to build 2½ miles of paved walk from the Hanover line to Norwell Center. But opponents of the plan successfully sued, arguing that it was an illegal use of the funds, and a Superior Court judge nullified the decision.

In 2016, Town Meeting rejected a proposal to borrow money for the project, and the town has been building the sidewalks a little bit at a time since then.

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.