Updates to Joel Blvd planned at $1.1 million

Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Photo of Joel Boulevard from Google Maps.

Lee County plans to decrease the amount of lanes on a busy road. This is being done in order to reduce backups while drivers are travelling. You would think losing one lane would cause a traffic nightmare though.

Lee County plans to start a $1.1 million project in spring 2019 to update Joel Boulevard in Lehigh Acres from four lanes to three lanes.

Safety is a big reason for the change. However, the new project is a hard sell for some drivers, while it makes sense to others.

Lehigh Acres resident Gregory Hitchcock is sick and tired of drivers on Joel Boulevard.

“They’re crazy,” Hitchcock said. “They have lights out … they don’t use their blinkers; they don’t have brake lights that work; they don’t use their blinkers, and you almost rear end them.”

Lee County is stepping in to make things safer. Right now the road is four lanes. The plan is to make it three lanes with the middle used as a turning lane.

Richard Weber doesn’t see the need.

“You see a car coming here, wait as the car passes; you make the turn,” Weber said. “That road isn’t that traveled. There’s not that many people traveling, and if there is, you don’t have that long of a wait to make a turn.”

Lee County said the four-mile stretch of Joel Blvd has had 83 accidents in the past three years. Five of them caused deaths.

Officials said a lot of those accidents are caused by people getting rear ended when they try turning. The new turning lane will help prevent that.

Hitchcock and Weber disagree on this too.

“That’ll be a good idea to make it safer,” Hitchcock said. “There’s a lot of accidents.”

Weber doesn’t believe the dangers reported are a major factor.

“Really, I haven’t seen any accidents since I’ve been traveling,” Weber said. “It’s been a peaceful trip to me.”

The county plans to add 5-foot shoulders on each side of Joel Blvd for bicyclists and pedestrians.

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