CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is looking into ways to make our streets safer. A study through Stantec Consulting for the county found there are more than 120 roadway deaths and 600 injury crashes per year in Lee County, and it's not just cars involved in these crashes.
"I mean, it's a beautiful place to be, right? Everybody's outside, you gotta watch out," said Frank Domiga, Stantec Consulting.
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Domingo says a federal grant is helping them identify issue areas. In Cape Coral,one street that showed up in red on their map was Pine Island Road. Click to see the dashboard.
"At a minimum, there should be maybe a flashing amber left arrow. Those have been shown to reduce crashes up by about 20% which is pretty good," said Domingo.
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Another option he says could be a mixed-use trail for pedestrians and bicyclists.
"We have specific countermeasures where we want to actually separate, especially the bicyclists and pedestrians, from keeping them separated from regular car traffic," said Domingo. "I mean, it's a real, sounds like a real, basic thing, but it is a challenge to be able to implement those."
He says this can be a pricier option for our local leaders but it would ultimately beat out the $2 billion in crash costs we see each year.
"I'm just excited that we're talking about it. I mean, safety is a problem on our roads," said Terri Lewis, a Lee County resident.
Lewis is a bicyclist and volunteer on Lee County's bike-pedestrian committee. She says she believes this could be a great option for Cape Coral.
"It would be fabulous, I think, for the area, and for Cape Coral in terms of connectivity," said Lewis. "We see what Sanibel has done with bike-ped infrastructure. It's been a commercial boom."
Fatal Crashes 2019-2024
While they got the last bit of public input on these suggestions, Domingo says next they will bring their findings to our local leaders.
"Driving is a privilege, and I think the folks have to understand that that is important,” said Domingo.
