TURNER – Drivers using Route 4 in Turner will be facing three sections of highway construction for the next several weeks. The Maine Department of Transportation has urged drivers who have a readily available alternate route to consider using it from now to late June.

“We’re really just getting geared up on these projects and are already seeing considerable traffic congestion,” explained Craig Nash, MDOT’s construction manager on the project. “We’ve really been just doing start-up activities so far, but the heavier work, which will require periods of one-lane traffic, are scheduled to begin the week of May 8.

The work areas, all on Route 4, include one beginning just north of Upper Street in Turner and extending north for 2.6 miles, ending just south of County Road; one beginning two-tenths of a mile north of Blake Street and extending north for a mile and three-quarters, ending just south of Martin Stream Bridge; and one beginning 1.2 miles north of Tidswell Road and extending north for 3.1 miles, ending just south of the Turner-Livermore town line.

“The work is similar in all three areas,” Nash explained. “We’ll be putting down a shim layer of pavement to smooth out the existing roadway, then putting down a three-quarter-inch thick layer of new pavement to provide a new roadway surface. We’ll also be adjusting roadside guardrails.”

The work will be shut down over Memorial Day weekend, but drivers should otherwise expect to encounter one-lane traffic and temporary traffic signals.