CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Residents in Lee County are growing concerned over the Burnt Store Road and Tropicana intersection, saying they’ve seen too many accidents in the area and want leaders to take action.
But, Burnt Store Road is maintained by Lee County and Tropicana Pkwy is maintained by the City of Cape Coral.
“It was shortly after they finished the split median right there it started getting pretty bad,” Father of three, Dustin Guthrie who lives in the area realizing just how bad the intersection has gotten saying every time he hears sirens while his wife takes the kids to school, “I call her just to make sure everything is ok.”
Guthrie, and Jamie Stone are two concerned residents who are part of a group chat with over 15 people who have been reaching out to the City of Cape Coral and Lee County, “I’m really just frustrated that this hasn’t gotten the attention of city leaders, county leaders,” Stone stressing that she just wants her voice to be heard.
I reached out to Lee County which maintains Burnt Store Road and they said, “The Burnt Store Road corridor is very new to drivers and motorists need to become acclimated to driving a new traffic pattern. The county is monitoring all of the new intersections on the project to determine if any adjustments need to be made.”
According to Cape Coral Police since 2020 crashes have increased, in fact even doubled, with 14 crashes in 2020, 16 in 2021, and 30 in 2022. Already, 10 crashes 25 days into 2023.
The City of Cape Coral did respond by saying that judged on the data collected from 2020, “Judging on the accidents they appear to have happened in conjunction with the widening of Burnt Store Road which is a county road. Any traffic studies or changes to that intersection would be up to the county.”
