Poinciana traffic signal to be gone by summer's end

Collier County officials decided to uproot a traffic signal on Goodlette-Frank Road in 1998.

Now, eight years later, county officials predict it should happen by the end of summer.

The signal at the entrance to the Royal Poinciana Golf Club stands several feet away from another traffic light at Goodlette-Frank and Solana roads. It's a symbol of an annexation, legal battles and a hefty $1.41 million check signed by the city last month.

The entrance and exit to the Royal Poinciana Golf Club is being rerouted to Solana Road, just in time to enjoy Solana's city-bought, first-class face lift, promised back in 1999 when the golf club was annexed to the city.

Work is progressing on the new entrance. Residents of the area insist that the improvements will benefit much more than the club's aesthetic value.

"It will improve our entrance into our neighborhood. I've actually seen two people drive into the ditch because they didn't navigate the curve well," said Kirsten Faulk, a resident of Burning Tree Drive and a member of the golf club.

County Traffic Engineer Bob Tipton said the county will hold off on removing the light for a while, giving the club a chance to finish the new entrance.

Photo by Chad Yoder, Daily News

"We've been working with them to try and keep everyone mobile in that part of the county," he said, adding that the signal will be down before school starts. "We have our own timeline, but we can hold off to a point."

Driving by Royal Poinciana, residents can see the orange net fence and mounds of displaced dirt lining the club's typically pristine landscape — sure-fire signs that something is happening.

But the club has no comment.

"They're proceeding to build their connection," said the club's attorney, George Vega, who said he knew nothing else of the new entrance.

As far as the city's end of the bargain, expect the million-dollar makeover for Solana Road to begin in two weeks.

The upgrades to the 1,250-foot Solana Road, which then becomes Burning Tree Drive, should be finished by September, Naples Traffic Engineer George Archibald said.

Should the city stick to its schedule, site-clearing crews will be the first signs of improvement on Solana.

Quick on their heels will be a Florida Power & Light crew to bury utility lines.

Next comes the nixing of the unsightly ditch on the north side of the street, which plagues drivers and doesn't allow for much drainage capacity. The ditch will be replaced with a $1.3 million, 4-by-8-foot box culvert.

Finally comes the actual roadwork, switching Solana to a two-lane divided road. The changes will widen the lanes from 10 feet to 11 feet and add concrete guttering and concrete curbing, which will help drivers stay in their lanes, Archibald said.

He said the city doesn't anticipate much trouble from hurricane season because most of the work is underground or at ground level.

City and county work is scheduled to converge at the intersection of Goodlette-Frank and Solana roads sometime in August or September.

The city thinks they'll get there first.

The county's six-lane widening of Goodlette-Frank Road from Golden Gate Parkway to near Pine Ridge Road is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.

Aside from the club, several properties rely on the curving road: Big Cypress Development, Country Club of Naples, Moorings Park and Grace Lutheran Church.

Another debate involving the Solana Road improvements was the question of extending the road east to Airport-Pulling Road.

"I believe there was a report done that looked at the feasibility and the costs," Archibald said. "Unfortunately, there was no less than two, possibly three subdivisions that would be impacted by that and it would be very, very costly. I think (the report) was done in the mid-1980s."