We're considering renting a house in Wicasset for mid-June. Will we be sitting in traffic for hours to get into the Wicasset area? I'm wondering if the bridge over the river is a bottleneck problem at that time of year. We stopped going to the Outer Banks because it would take us 2-3 hours to go 12 miles on a Saturday check-in. Comments? Thank you!

My experience suggests the bridge over the river in Wiscasset often is a bottleneck issue in summer. But it's been a couple years since I've been there and I haven't been there at widely varying days or times of day.

Yes, there is a daily bottleneck getting over the bridge during the summer from lunch time through afternoon. I don't recall if mid June is bad or not - but I know July and Aug are a pain.

The bottleneck is actually due to all the pedestrians crossing Rt1 in the town to queue up at Reds Eats (lobster rolls). At it's worst it can back up all the way to Big Al's.

If you are passing northbound, you can bypass a lot of the traffic if you know the shortcuts through town. Southbound, there is usually a backup across the bridge part or all of the way to Rt27. That backup can last 20-30min at it's worst.

Before noon or later afternoon the backup wanes.

As J62 says, it's that damn Red's Eats. They should have to pay to build an elevated pedestrian crosswalk. By-the-way, you can get a better lobster roll for less money at the wharf across the street. But you don't get the fancy awning.

Mid-June is not a problem there. And even later in the summer, it is nothing approaching 2 hours to go 12 miles. If you could survive that, you'll be in heaven driving around Maine.

We were in mid-coast last mid-June staying one night in East Boothbay before going to Rockland. I don't remember any traffic in Wiscasset at all and vaguely remember making a remark that it might be a good time to stop at Red's because there wasn't any line (and they might not have been open). We've never gotten our lobster rolls there despite camping twice in nearby Chewonky. The worst backup I've ever seen there was in late afternoon on a Friday before 4th of July - think commuter + weekend visitor traffic. We were staying at Chewonky and friends were camping in Boothbay.

I think you'll be fine but I would avoid the bridge area during commuting hours if you can.

https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/...ref=relatedBox