FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla — Fort Myers Beach leaders say broken traffic lights have turned a busy intersection by Times Square into a bottleneck.
Fort Myers Beach community correspondent Austin Schargorodski works in the area every day, so he hits this traffic too. He went to town leaders, who told him they’re pushing the county to take action.
Watch to hear what the town is pushing for to help with the traffic:
It’s season on Fort Myers Beach, with crowded beaches, busy streets, and of course… heavy traffic. But people there like Bella Mozarella owner Carlos Chavez say it’s worse than normal.
“This weekend was very chaotic with the traffic. I think the traffic was backed up to Summerlin,” Chavez said.
Chavez believes broken traffic lights at the intersection are to blame. He says the lights have been down since Hurricane Ian, and without them, families cross the intersection when they can, creating backups and raising safety concerns.
“Somebody might miss the stop sign, and someone can get hurt,” Chavez said.
Visitors have also been vocal about the traffic problems. Town spokesperson Abigail Eberhart says she received a complaint Monday that read: “Traffic is at a standstill. Google says it will take 2 hours to go less than 2 miles. I’ll never come back. This is ridiculous.”
Eberhart says the county maintains the traffic lights, which is why the town has been pushing the county to fix them.
“It’s now been about three years, and they recently got back to us and said they’re on it, but it’s going to take about another year,” Eberhart said.
On Tuesday, Eberhart says the town manager emailed the county manager to ask if there is any way to speed up the process.
Schargorodski also reached out to the county for information. A spokesperson says bids are being worked on now for a contract. The county says repairs would take about three months, but the traffic lights would not be up and running until fall of 2026.
In the meantime, the town says rangers will continue directing traffic at the intersection, while leaders push for a temporary traffic light as a sooner solution.
“Just know that we’re doing everything we can to make sure you’re not sitting in traffic longer than you should,” Eberhart said.
