Widen SR 78 or 82 first? Question arises with idea to buy right of way

A proposal by Cape Coral to get State Road 78 widened earlier than scheduled may see the project leapfrog State Road 82 on local priority lists and could set up a competition between Cape Coral and Fort Myers over the two roads.

At a Metropolitan Planning Organization workshop Friday, city officials pitched the idea of applying to a state program that allows cities to lend the state right-of-way money to get road projects done sooner.

Economic Development director Mike Jackson said he thinks the Cape Coral City Council is ready to commit $20 million. That would get them more than halfway to the $37 million the state figures the land will cost.

Trouble is, Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey recalled, the MPO had called for the cities to get the right of way donated. Humphrey said Fort Myers is working to do exactly that for SR 82.

SR 82 is a main line between the rapidly growing community of Lehigh Acres and Fort Myers. There’s a plan to widen the road between I-75 and Lee Boulevard to six lanes, but it finished too far down the MPO priority list for funding. Lee County’s latest assessment gave the road an ‘F’ rating.

SR 78 runs across the northern part of Cape Coral to Pine Island. It provides the only hurricane evacuation route to island residents, and the city, leaning heavily on a residential tax base, sees it as a prime corridor for commercial development. There’s a plan to widen the road from Burnt Store Road to Chiquita Boulevard to four lanes, but it also finished out of the money on the priority list.

The MPO has placed both atop its unfunded priority list. The agency ranks local road projects for the use of federal and state money. The ranking put SR 78 first and SR 82 second, with the understanding the funding priority would go to the project for which right of way was available first.

“If I recall, the 82-78 discussion was the importance of having right of way donated,” Humphrey said. “This says money for buying right of way instead.”

MPO planners said both 78 and 82 are worthy projects, but any loan would have to be repaid from future MPO revenue, which is about $16 million annually.

“There are a lot of higher priorities than 78,” said planner Ron Gogoi. “It’s a good project, but there are higher priorities.”

The MPO consists of members of the Lee County Commission and members of each of the city councils. Cape Coral Mayor Eric Feichthaler said it’s the city that’s agreeing to front the money and to await repayment, but other members argued it could bump other projects.

“It’s like a credit card solicitation,” Commissioner John Albion said. “It’s not as if the money’s not going to be paid back.”

Albion said it wouldn’t be fair to get some landowners to donate their land, as both cities have done, and pay the rest.

“On one we say to people they’ve got to donate their land,” he said. “There’s a little signal here that if you hold out long enough, you can get paid and the other guy is a sucker.”

Feichthaler pushed to at least have MPO planners work on the concept, but others hesitated.

“The more I listen, the more questions arise,” Commissioner Bob Janes said.