It’s the time of year where you can’t go too far in the Maritimes without running into road construction. It’s already been difficult getting around Fredericton the last few weeks, and city officials are warning it could be getting a lot worse before it gets better.

“We’ve got three projects that will be closed to thru traffic,” says Greg McCann, Project Engineer with the city of Fredericton.

Beginning Monday, three major thoroughfares will be closed to traffic until September, in addition to other major road closures already underway.

The city is urging people to ditch their vehicles and either walk, get on a bike, or take public transit.

“If it’s the status quo and people are following their typical schedule, they’ll certainly see delay in their travel times to and from their destinations,” says McCann.

The city plans to implement a park-and-ride program from different areas around Fredericton.

“Park your vehicle there, hop on a city bus and get downtown that way,” explains McCann. “Take vacation time during the closure, ask your employer for flex time to avoid being on the road at peak travel times.”

“If these people took the bus they would be a home a lot faster,” says Fredericton resident Lynda Johnston. “But even the bus is getting more difficult just in the fact that it has to keep everything away from where I want to be.”

The road work is already impacting local businesses downtown.

“I’ve probably lost close to between 30-50% of my sales in one month,” says business owner Jackie Veinott.

Some visitors to Fredericton are also experiencing the delays, but say the traffic needs to be put into context.

“When you see Hamilton and Toronto traffic, you don’t even go into Toronto,” says Jim Battis, visiting from Ontario.

“It’s all perspective, I mean, coming from Toronto, you’re stuck in traffic for a long time,” echoes Matt Dratva, a Fredericton resident who used to live in Toronto.

But that kind of traffic very well could become the new reality in Fredericton, if people don’t take the cities advice and modify how they get around this summer.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.