Walmart has submitted plans with the town of Brunswick to expand its Route 7 store into a supercenter that would sell groceries.

Under the plan, which the planning board will consider May 5, the 120,000-square-foot building (photo right) would expand by 40,000 square feet. The expansion would bring the store, which sits between Route 7 and McChesney Avenue, closer to each roadway.

“They’re mainly interested in putting groceries in,” Town Supervisor Phil Herrington said Friday. “Price Chopper is very successful in Brunswick, and I think that got Walmart’s attention.”

Walmart has long wanted a supercenter in Brunswick. In 2004, the Arkansas-based company proposed a supercenter for a Route 7 site a few miles east of the existing store.

But that plan ran into opposition from residents, including the Brunswick Smart Growth group, who argued the larger store would add to Route 7 congestion and threaten a neighboring wetland.

Herrington doesn’t expect the same sort of opposition to the current plans. “I don’t see any downside to this,” he said.