Growth dominates North County meeting

You don’t have to tell people who live east of Collier Boulevard there is massive growth where they live.

That growth was obvious to the 150 Collier County residents who attended Wednesday night’s town hall meeting at the University Extension Center at 14700 Immokalee Road, next to the Collier County Fairgrounds.

Immokalee Road was dotted with barricades and other signs of construction outside the extension center. It is now in the process of being widened from two to four lanes.

“All the road construction seems to be going on in this district,” said county Commissioner Jim Coletta, the host of the meeting. “It seems like the center of the world right now.

Coletta’s District 5 includes all of Collier County east of Collier Boulevard. Most of Wednesday’s meeting was focused on dealing with growth in the area.

Golden Gate Estates is the fastest-growing part of Collier County and the Immokalee area is expected to grow in the next few years as well once Ave Maria University is built.

Don Scott, the county’s transportation planning director, told residents there will be no let-up in road construction in the next few years.

Portions of Immokalee Road, Golden Gate Boulevard, Oil Well Road, Wilson Boulevard, Collier Boulevard and Everglades Boulevard either are being widened now, or a project to widen the road will begin in the next few years.

The county also is proceeding with a controversial plan to extend Vanderbilt Beach Road into the Golden Gate Estates and extend Collier Boulevard past Immokalee Road all the way to Bonita Beach Road.

Even with all of that construction, Collier officials aren’t sure the area is prepared for the growth that is coming.

“There will soon be 65,000 to 70,000 people living in the Estates,” said Joe Schmitt, community development and environmental services administrator. “The road network is totally inadequate for that right now.”

Without careful planning, Schmitt said, the area could be a disaster with thousands of people driving to jobs in the western part of the county every morning, and those same people all driving back to the eastern part of the county at night.

Coletta said residents in Immokalee and Golden Gate Estates had to help the county solve this problem. He urged them to get involved in long-range planning the county now is doing.

“A lot of you in the audience tonight have been involved in making (road projects) happen,” Coletta said. “We’re in this together. It’s not something the County Commission has public domain over.”

Collier Emergency Management Director Dan Summers also spoke to the residents at Wednesday’s meeting. Summers urged everyone to have a hurricane plan in place before a storm hit the area.

Hurricane season begins today.

“I know you’re tired of hearing about it, but it’s up to you to be prepared in a hurricane,” Summers said. “Always think about your evacuation routes and try to evacuate early.”

People who stay in the area should make sure they have a three-day supply of food and water for after the storm hits, Summers said.