Road construction on Route 1 in Wells at Buffum Bridge will add to the already congested summer traffic in the popular tourist town. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

How cruel a joke it is that, just as the weather starts cooperating enough for construction crews to get to work fixing our roads and bridges, tourists start flocking to our state, swelling traffic counts and compounding backups.

We need to get places, people! Whether it’s work or camp or our own in-state travel destinations. And while it can be tempting to stay off the roads as much as possible and tell ourselves there’s plenty of Maine within walking distance for a perfectly satisfying summer, if we let the visitors have all the fun, what are we even doing here?

Plus, we have the edge on them. From the jump start we can get hitting the road whenever good weather strikes to the knowledge of the worst traffic bottlenecks (we’re looking at you, Wiscasset) and the Gazetteers to guide us around them.

This construction season, I want to add another tool to your toolbox: a heads-up on some of the projects that might further snarl traffic on the way to Maine’s summer hot spots, so you can chose your route and timing wisely.

Here are some upcoming lane closures and other travel impacts to look out for, according to traffic information service New England 511.

ROUTE 1 REHAB

Wells: Along the stretch where traffic already regularly backs up in summer, work south of Mile Road on the replacement of the Buffum Bridge, scheduled for completion in November, could only cause more congestion. So give yourself some extra time to make your way through town.

Yarmouth: Paving along about a mile of the main drag, from Portland Street to Forest Falls Drive, will cause alternating lane closures through July 3 — which should leave plenty of time before the Clam Fest but might affect the route you take to Day’s Crabmeat & Lobster.

Woolwich: From Taste of Maine Restaurant to Nequasset Road, lane shifts due to bridge construction will continue through mid-July.

Camden: Just north of downtown, near Camden Hills State Park, traffic will be reduced to one lane for a mile and a half stretch from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday for the rest of the year.

LAKE LIFE, INTERRUPTED

Lake Arrowhead: By this lakeside community on the Waterboro-Limerick line, New Dam Road over the Ledgemere Station bridge will be reduced to one lane until June 27, with temporary signals directing the alternating traffic.

Sebago region: Route 11, from Route 302 near the Naples Causeway to White Oak Hill Road by Tripp Pond in Poland, will be reduced to one lane for a paving project scheduled for completion on Aug. 15.

Belgrade and beyond: A more-than-20-mile stretch of Interstate 95 South, from Benton to Augusta, will be undergoing road maintenance through October, reducing traffic to one lane. If you’re headed from the north to the Theater at Monmouth or Cobbosseecontee Lake, you may run into more lane closures getting off on Route 202 because of bridge work there. Meanwhile, on Route 27 through Belgrade and Rome, pavement work will result in alternating lane closures into December.

BAR HARBOR BOUND

Bangor: If you typically opt to save the seven minutes by taking the highway to Bangor on your way to Acadia National Park, maybe this is the year to try the more scenic Route 3, with bridge work at the interchange with 1-395 in the Queen City reducing traffic to one lane, from Sunday to Thursday through Aug. 8.

Ellsworth: Regardless, you’re still not in the clear. From Route 1 in Ellsworth, for two miles south down Route 3 toward Mount Desert Island, milling and paving will cause alternating lane closures through Sept. 28. I can hear it from your backseat now: “Are we there yet?”