In the Know: An update on Vanderbilt widening

Q. What’s going on with the widening of Vanderbilt Beach Road between Airport-Pulling Road and Livingston Road?

Jerry Rein/Naples

A. The contractor hopes to have that segment widened by mid-August, according to Eileen O’Grady, spokeswoman for Collier County’s Transportation Services Division.

Vanderbilt Beach Road is being widened from two to six lanes between Airport-Pulling Road and Collier Boulevard in three segments. The segment between Airport and Livingston will be the first completed.

The timetable on the widening of the other two segments — as provided in the monthly progress schedule by the road contractor — is:

-- Collier to Logan Boulevard, substantially complete by July 2007.

-- Logan to Livingston, substantially completed by March 2008.

The delays on the first segment have been related to underground utility work that has taken longer than expected.

New columnist

Lisa Fleming started this column four years ago as a way to answer questions posed by readers of the Daily News.

I took over the column in June 2004.

Last month, I accepted a job at another Florida newspaper.

So it’s time to pass the torch again.

Tim Aten, the news editor for the Daily News, will begin writing this column temporarily.

The way to submit questions remains the same: You can e-mail them to intheknow@naplesnews.com, or call the In the Know hot line at 213-6007 and leave a message.

I have been delighted by the many interesting questions that readers have asked — from everyday matters such as road construction and new businesses, to how certain Southwest Florida places and streets got their names, to more obscure topics such as the large airfield at the Collier/Miami-Dade county line and Florida laws on animal cruelty, gambling and turning on red lights.

It has been a pleasure to research these matters and write this weekly column.

Keep those questions coming!

This week in history

June 6, 1916: Henry Ford buys the place next to Thomas Edison’s home in Fort Myers.

June 7, 1906: Members of the Koreshan religious movement found the American Eagle newspaper in Estero.

“The Story of Fort Myers,” by Karl Grismer; “Early Estero,” by Quentin Quesnell