County road projects struggling to catch up with growth, traffic

"Lee County has just got a big ole case of you can't get there from here-itis," said Cole Preliend. "Seems like no matter where I'm headed, I run into either traffic jams or road construction, usually both."

It was late Sunday afternoon, and where Preliend was headed this time was home.

Unfortunately, where he was, was sitting on his 1992 Harley Davidson 20 cars back from the stoplight at Summerlin Road and Gladiolus Drive. His muttered statements on traffic delays were easy to sympathize with as a flash of lightning tore across the leaden gray sky and a crack of thunder vibrated in the air. As the first wave of fat raindrops raced across the pavement in a sudden deluge, the line of traffic inched forward, now delayed by a suddenly non-functional traffic light as well as the normally slow construction-constricted traffic flow.

"What can you do?" Preliend said with a resigned shrug.

"You ride in Lee County, you get wet, that's just a fact of living here. Now we just get a little bit wetter."

Daily, with varying degrees of that same patience and good-natured resignation, drivers throughout South Lee County face the effects of a population growing faster than the current road system can handle. County and state officials, in an effort to bring transportation grids up to current demand, are in the midst of planning and executing a number of major road projects throughout the area.

A difficult task made more troublesome by political quagmires and planning conundrums, not to mention skyrocketing costs for materials, road projects often stretch on past their planned completion dates, prompting both irate commuters and area businesses to voice their concerns.

"We came here for vacation, and shopping is invariably a part of every vacation when you have a wife and three teenagers," said Michigan resident Paul Hephin. "It seems we spend more time in traffic this year than on the beach or in the stores combined."

Regular vacationers in Lee County, the Hephin family spends three weeks in Fort Myers every other year, and Paul Hephin said the county is obviously playing catch-up as a result of population that outpaced estimated growth.

Currently there are three major areas of road construction in South Fort Myers: the northward extension of Treeline Avenue, the Summerlin Road project and the widening of Alico Road.

Rolling ahead nearly six months ahead of schedule, the extension of Treeline Avenue from Daniels Parkway north to Colonial Boulevard is expected to be open to through traffic by the end of July. Financed by Worthington Communities Inc., the four-lane addition will provide, among other destination, access for the 4,600 families expected to move into the under-construction Colonial Country Club and Pelican Preserve communities. With the widening of Interstate 75 expected to begin in April 2007, Treeline Avenue will provide an alternative route for South Fort Myers residents.

Summerlin Road is in the midst of a widening project that will add an additional two lanes to the existing four and includes the addition of a flyover span at both Gladiolus and San Carlos Boulevard. The project will widen the roadway to six lanes from four and add flyovers at Gladiolus and San Carlos The original deadline was December, but an extension requested by contractor Phoenix Construction Services was granted and the project is expected to be completed by the new February deadline.

A second phase of road-widening on Summerlin Road is planned for early 2008. It will cost an estimated $30.6 million and will add an additional two lanes to Summerlin between Cypress Lake Drive and Boy Scout Drive and add an overpass at College Parkway.

Lee County-funded work on the widening of Alico Road between Three Oaks Parkway and U.S. 41 is nearing completion.

The Florida Department of Transportation, however, is expecting work on both the Alico Road/Interstate 75 interchange and the state-funded widening of Alico to six lanes between Three Oaks Parkway and Ben Hill Griffin Road to last through the summer months.

SOUTH FORT MYERS ROAD PROJECTS

At the Lee County Management and Planning meeting on June 5, County Commissioners discussed the five-year road project plan. The plan includes 75 projects, estimated at $780 million, and is part of the 2006-07 budget to be voted on in September for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The following South Fort Myers projects were added to the five-year plan:

• Alico Expressway — An alignment study of the proposed expressway, which will serve as a new east-west four-lane toll road connecting Summerlin Road to State Road 82 in Lehigh Acres, is expected to start no later than Sept. 30, 2009. Total costs, including land acquisition, design and construction, is estimated at $300 million.

• Daniels Parkway — Design for the widening of Daniels Parkway from four to six lanes between Chamberlin Parkway and Gateway is expected to start by Sept. 30, 2010, with an expected construction start date one year later. The estimated cost is $11.53 million.

• Plantation Road — Design and land acquisition for the widening of Plantation from two to four lanes between Ben C. Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway to Daniels Parkway is expected to start by Sept. 30, 2009, with construction to begin by Sept. 30, 2011. The estimated cost is $11.27 million.

• State Road 82/Daniels Parkway — Design and construction to expand the left-turn lanes on Sate Road 82 northbound turning west onto Daniels Parkway will start the design phase by Sept. 30, 2007, and begin construction by Sept. 30, 2008. The estimated cost is $200,000 for design and $800,000 for construction.

The following South Fort Myers project was advanced on the five-year plan:

• Colonial Expressway — The design phase of an elevated, four-lane expressway with tolls over Colonial Boulevard, from the Midpoint Memorial Bridge to Metro Parkway has been advanced two years. If the design process, with an estimated cost of $15.5 million, indicates the project would be feasible, land acquisition would begin by Sept. 30, 2009, and construction by Sept. 30, 2011. Land acquisition will cost an estimated $200 million and construction and estimated $181.9 million.

The following South Fort Myers projects were delayed on the five-year plan:

• Estero Parkway Extension — The construction of a four-lane extension of Estero Parkway from Three Oaks Parkway to Ben Hill Griffin Parkway has been delayed for two years. The project, estimated to cost $48.89 million (up $17.53 million from previous estimates) is expected to start in late 2007.

• Sandy Lane Extension — The four-lane extension of Sandy Lane from Corkscrew Road to Estero Parkway has been delayed for two years, with the design phase not expected to start until Sept. 30, 2011. Estimated costs for the project have risen $8.62 million to $16,48 million for design, land acquisition and construction.

• Summerlin Road — The second phase of the Summerlin Road widening, which will add two lanes to Summerlin between Boy Scout Drive and Cypress Lake Drive, is now expected to start by Sept. 30, 2008, a year later than originally planned. Estimated costs have risen $14.45 million to $39.85 million for design, land acquisition and construction.