Loan paves the way for earlier widening of U.S. 41 in south Lee County

FDOT officials will use the loan the State Infrastructure Bank approved Monday to purchase right of way for widening U.S. 41 from four to six lanes from Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Boulevard. The segment is the last scheduled to be finished in a series of projects that eventually will give U.S. 41 six lanes from State Road 951 in Collier County to downtown Fort Myers in Lee County.

Buying the right of way for the Corkscrew to San Carlos section is a two-year process and wasn't scheduled to begin until 2006. The loan will move that start date up to July 2004.

To actually have the road project completed early, though, the Department of Transportation will have to find a way to advance the construction phase. Construction, which is projected to cost about $16 million, isn't funded to begin until the 2008-09 fiscal year.

FDOT spokeswoman Debbie Tower said the transportation department and Lee County's Metropolitan Planning Organization realize the widening needs to begin before 2008.

"It's clear that the community, Lee County and the state DOT -- we all share the same focus," she said.

FDOT officials will be exploring options such as applying for another loan or including the construction phase in an advanced reimbursement program, Tower said. The program allows Lee County to advance the money to the Department of Transportation, and the transportation department to then pay back the money during the year the money is originally funded.

Don Eslick, a member of Estero's Community Planning Panel, said he was pleased to hear the State Infrastructure Bank approved the loan, but he and other residents will be looking for ways to help move forward the construction phase.

"We want to work with the FDOT and the county and the private sector to get it done," he said.

Community leaders and local officials have been pushing for months to move up the timetable for widening that section of road, which runs through one of the fastest growing areas in the county.

In June, Eslick and other members of Estero's Community Planning Panel worked on a proposal that called for area developers to buy a letter of credit, a bank measure that ensures a party would be responsible for the right of way loan. Under the proposal, the developers would pay the interest while the Department of Transportation would pay the principal, or the borrowed amount, whenever the money was available.

Members also have talked to representatives with the Wal-Mart Corp. about paying for part of the widening.

The Wal-Mart Corp. is proposing a Supercenter store on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Koreshan Boulevard, but the road will be categorized as a failing road in a few years based on the last official traffic report in 2001, county transportation officials say.

"I know Wal-Mart has a great interest in accelerating the construction," Eslick said. "We want to work with them on that."

Judson Pankey, a Wal-Mart project manager with CPH Engineers of Fort Myers, said the Wal-Mart Corp. is interested in seeing the road widened sooner than 2008 to support the flow of traffic into the store.

"We've had preliminary discussions to see what Wal-Mart could do to be part of the team to get U.S. 41 widened early," he said.

A wider road cannot come soon enough for Estero resident Kathy Baker.

This is the first winter Baker, 55, and her husband have lived in the Breckenridge community, off of U.S. 41.

The newly retired couple spends three months of the year driving along U.S. roadways in their recreational vehicle. They've seen a lot of roads and a lot of traffic, but U.S. 41 can be especially dangerous, Baker said.

"I feel very cautious about getting out onto 41," she said. "You really do have to be defensive with driving."

The bottleneck traffic created in the four-lane stretch between the six-lane U.S. 41 north of San Carlos Boulevard and the six-lane U.S. 41 being constructed south of Corkscrew Road also creates problems for rescue workers. Fire trucks must edge through packed lanes on the only main route that serves the district.

"This time of year, we always find it very congested," said Jeff Lindsey of Estero Fire Rescue. "Our business is someone else's location. You have to go to them."

The State Infrastructure Bank, established in 1997 to support federal transportation projects, on Monday also approved a $5.6 million loan to purchase land for widening to six lanes Metro Parkway/State Road 739 from Six Mile Cypress to Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers. The loan moves up the Metro Parkway project by three years.

Both loans were the first the bank has approved for acquiring right of way instead of construction costs.

Tower said FDOT officials are pleased with the decision but realize their work is not finished.

"We are going to keep our eye focused," she said. "Our next step is going to look for ways to advance the construction phase."