TransportationTraffic in Estero and south Lee County during the recently completed “season” seemed to be much more congested than in prior years. As a result more and more Estero residents are asking: How are we going to be able to get around after all the approved commercial developments are built? The short answer is: During the next two “seasons” it will be very difficult. After that traffic congestion in Estero should be reduced except for a couple of bottlenecks that need to be broken. In five years traffic in south Lee County will be greatly improved. For many years south Lee County has been served by only two major north-south corridors with a total of 8 lanes, US 41 and I-75. The County and State have been working to expand this capacity for about 20 years by widening US 41 to 6 lanes and developing a third four lane, north-south corridor connecting of Livingston Road in Collier County to Imperial in Bonita Springs and Three Oaks in Estero and to the north. The problem with both of these solutions is that several segments of each road are currently incomplete, thus greatly reducing their effectiveness. US 41 Now that the Old 41 to Corkscrew Road segment of US 41 has been widened to 6 lanes, three segments between Naples and Ft. Myers are still only four lanes wide. Two of the three are the Bonita Springs segments now under construction. The segment between Old 41 in Collier County and Bonita Beach Road is expected to be completed in about two months and the Bonita Beach Road to north Old 41 segment is forecast to be open to the public in about one year (April 2006). The final segment, “The Primary US 41 Bottleneck”, extends from Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Boulevard. The design, permitting and right-of-way acquisition of this project is now underway and expected to be completed in about one year (June 2006). Unfortunately the funding for this segment is not scheduled to become available until July 2009, four years from now. Since the State allows two years for construction of road widening projects like this, US 41 would not be widened in this area until 2011, six years from now. The regional office of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is committed to applying in August for a State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) loan of nearly $20 million to pay the construction costs of this project. Approval or denial is expected in November. The Florida legislature recently increased funding for the SIB loan program by $100 million. Should the SIB loan be denied, Wal-Mart’s offer to pay up to $1 million of interest on another type of loan may be part of an alternative funding solution. If this project is funded by the middle of next year, the earliest that the segment can be opened to the public is three years from now (mid 2008). Thus this Bottleneck will only get worse for at least three more seasons. More information about US 41 Expansion...
Livingston-Imperial-Three Oaks Parkway At present four segments of this 4 or 6 lane roadway have not been constructed or widened, three of them in the Bonita/Estero area. By the end of this year all three Bonita/Estero segments are scheduled to complete the design, permitting, right-of-way, bidding and construction contractor selected process. If successful construction of all three segments should begin no later than next January and each project should be open for traffic in two years (in mid 2007). Lee County DOT has placed a very high priority on completing these segments by mid-2007 so that this corridor is available for use before the six-laning of I-75 gets underway in the summer/fall of 2007. The three Bonita/Estero segments are: - Construction of Imperial from Bonita Beach Road to East Terry Street (4 lanes)
- Construction of Three Oaks Parkway from East Terry Street to Coconut Road (4 lanes)
- Widening of Three Oaks Parkway from Corkscrew Road to Alico Road to four lanes.
Recently the City of Bonita Springs and Lee County have approved an additional $17.4 million to pay the increased cost of the two Bonita Springs segments. The fourth and final segment is located at the far north end of the corridor between Alico Road and Daniels Parkway . It will not be completed for several years but because it is at the end of the corridor it does not create a bottleneck like the other three segments. When this corridor is completed it will be able to carry as much traffic as US 41 has carried over the years. More information about the Three Oaks Parkway Expansion...
Sandy Lane At present Sandy Lane exists as a short two lane road connecting Corkscrew Road to Broadway. Now under construction is a four lane extension from Corkscrew Road south to Pelican Colony Boulevard , the northern entrance to
Pelican Landing. This road segment is being constructed by the developers of
Coconut Point and North Point in order to supplement the capacity of US 41 in the vicinity of these regional retail attractions. This 3 mile segment is scheduled for completion about a year from now (mid 2006). Ultimately Sandy Lane will be extended from Pelican Colony Boulevard directly to Old 41 east of where it connects with US 41 in front of
Pelican Landing. When Old 41 is widened to four lanes (now in the design, permitting and right-of-way phase) and Sandy Lane is extended the combination will provide south Lee travelers with another 4 lane north-south corridor between Terry Street and Corkscrew Road . Traffic congestion on US 41 between Coconut Road and Old 41, “The Secondary US 41 Bottleneck”, will be most severe during the 2006 “season” after Coconut Point opens in the fall of 2006 and before Three Oaks Parkway is completed in the summer of 2007 and before Sandy Lane is extended from Pelican Colony Boulevard to Old 41. This Bottleneck will continue until Sandy Lane is extended to Old 41, a project that has not been funded, designed, permitted nor has its right-of-way been obtained. More information about the Sandy Lane Expansion...
Traffic in the vicinity of I-75 and Corkscrew Road increased greatly this “season” due to growth at FGCU, the Miromar Discount Mall, the residential developments east of I-75 and the opening of Skyline Drive. Later this year congestion in this area will be further increased due to the opening of the Midfield Terminal, reconstruction of the I-75/Alico Road intersection and the opening of the Gulf Coast Mall, the Miromar Design Center and the Embassy Suites Hotel. The following “season” (2007) Coconut Point, Lowe’s and several other major retail developments between Three Oaks Parkway and I-75 will be open for business. FDOT is presently constructing some I-75/Corkscrew intersection improvements that will improve turning movements onto and off the interstate but will not improve Corkscrew Road’s ability to handle all the vehicles accessing the area’s many attractions. Two years from now the area will get some relief when the Estero Parkway flyover between Three Oaks Parkway and Ben Hill Griffin opens for traffic. All this development will soon demand that Corkscrew be six-laned between Three Oaks and Ben Hill Griffin. In order to six-lane all of this segment the overpass at I-75 will need to be totally reconstructed. FDOT has started to design an overpass that will accommodate a six-laned Corkscrew Road . While this is being planned and implemented the segment of Corkscrew Road around the intersection should be six laned by the County and State. County staff indicates that the first step in this process is to gain MPO approval for inclusion of this project in the long range transportation (2030) plan. We will be seeking MPO approval during its long range plan update this fall. From the June 2005 Estero Development Report
Later this year congestion will be further increased due to the opening of the Midfield Terminal, reconstruction of the I-75/Alico Road intersection and the opening of the Gulf Coast Mall, the Miromar Design Center and the Embassy Suites Hotel.
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