BETHEL – Motorists using Route 2 on Wednesday morning should plan for traffic delays near the Irving gas station and convenience store.

Ron Cote of the Maine Department of Transportation traffic engineering section said in a statement Monday that drivers approaching the work area after 8 a.m. Wednesday can expect to meet alternating one-way traffic.

State workers will be adjusting traffic monitoring sensor units that were installed in the roadway last June. Cote said it would take a few hours each for the eastbound and westbound lanes.

“When drivers see the advance warning signs, they should slow down and be prepared to stop if directed to do so by our flaggers,” Cote said.

“It’s for their protection, as well as the protection of our workers,” he added.

The affected area is about a mile east of the intersection of Route 2 and Route 26 and within a quarter mile of Irving.

Rain prevented sensor installers from completing the job.

“Now, we’re coming back in to grind down the traffic sensor to the level of the pavement. It’s better for our equipment and for the traffic passing over it,” Cote said.

The sensor loops, part of a statewide vehicle monitoring system, provide the transportation department with data about the types and sizes of vehicles using Maine’s highways. That information, Cote said, is used to plan future highway construction and maintenance activities.