CAPE CORAL, Fla. — For anyone driving the nine miles of Pine Island Road between Burnt Store Road all the way to Cleveland Avenue, in North Fort Myers, there are the constants of lulls and heavy traffic.
Think of the busiest spots. Santa Barbara. Del Prado. Flowing into U.S. 41. All of these intersections, with multiple left turn lanes in all directions and thousands of drivers navigating through, just trying to get to somewhere else.
Tanya Merkle, project manager with the Florida Department of Transportation, said meetings in late June — one last week in-person and a virtual meeting on Thursday night — are just to collect ideas and to look into a vision to envision Pine Island Road.
"We are just looking at options of what we can do," said Merkle. "No decisions are made."
The SR 78 (Pine Island Road) Corridor Vision Plan lookes at planning for 9.2 miles that cross all throughout Cape Coral and into North Fort Myers. There is still the process of a finalized plan and the push for funding.
"We're just trying to make things safer for all modes of travel," said Merkle. "Bicycling, pedestrians and motorists."
That last element is also critical for bicycle safety as deadly crashes including bicycles have been a key issue in the state for years. The State Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported last year that, every two days, a bicyclist in Florida dies from a crash.
Merkle noted so many options to improve Pine Island Road can get looked at, including roundabouts, for a road with traffic lights about every mile.
"We had to do each phase as we get it so we had the ability to fund this vision plan to help guide where we think we're going to go, then the product and development and the environmental impact," said Merkle.
