NAHANT – The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) said the agency was aware of traffic jams at the newly renovated Nahant Beach Reservation this past weekend and is “working to mitigate it moving forward.””During the first nice weekend of the season, we invariably have more demand at the beach as people are anxious to get out and enjoy the weather,” William Hickey, DCR acting press secretary, wrote in an email Monday. “We are scheduled to meet with the Town of Nahant and Massachusetts State Police this week to discuss a variety of traffic mitigation measures that can be implemented to alleviate congestion over the weekend and during other high-use times.”The DCR recently completed a four-year, $20 million project to rehabilitate the Nahant Causeway and Beach Reservation. Tasks included repairing the causeway, restoring sand dunes, repairing the seawall and reconfiguring the parking lots and the entrance to the reservation. The lots re-opened Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend, but with 300 fewer parking spots than before the project.Beautiful weather Saturday and Sunday presented the first test of the facility.Nahant Police called for State Police backup and even closed the Nahant-bound lanes of the causeway for a brief period Sunday afternoon as heavy beach demand brought the traffic to a standstill for periods of time. Police said a line of cars backed up on the Nahant-bound side of the causeway from the left-hand turn into the reservation parking lot. Then people tried to cut into the backup on the turn and ended up blocking the second Nahant-bound lane of the causeway. Then the line backed up from the entrance to the parking lot into the Lynn-bound lanes of the causeway, particularly when the beachgoers found they couldn’t enter the lot and needed to find a spot to turn around. And then Lynn-bound traffic from all of Nahant backed up to Castle Road.Hickey noted this was the first time that most beachgoers had used the completed project.”We expect that it will take a little time for beachgoers to become acquainted with new traffic patterns,” Hickey said.Meanwhile, he said additional police details will likely be scheduled to help with traffic flow on future busy weekends. He also noted that the agency had wait times at Walden Pond, Salisbury, Horseneck and Nantasket Beaches.