Commissioners look to speed up start date for Lehigh Acres road project

Lee County Board of County Commissioners is trying to fast track a project that will take thousands of cars off a very busy road, and the news is very exciting for those who live in Lehigh Acres. It would create a new road to connect State Road 82 and Sunshine Boulevard with the Alico Road extension. The hope is to complete all this before the end of decade.

Ahead of project completion, community members have been unhappy with traffic down busy streets in Lehigh Acres, especially during rush hour.

“It’s always crazy here no matter what time of day,” Frank Giammarino said. “It’s always busy.”

“I’ve seen Lee Boulevard pretty jampacked,” John Kisic said.

“They’re ready to be home or be where they’re going, so they get pretty aggressive at times,” Sharon Smith said.

Crazy. Jampacked. Aggressive: Those aren’t the roads Smith wants to see her husband drive on.

“It’s rush hours. It’s early in the morning or after work, from three to seven in morning,” Smith said. “My husband drives that a lot. It’s extremely busy too.”

Commissioners have recognized the headache traffic can be in parts of Lehigh Acres.

“The traffic situation is going to get worse there, not better, and that’s why we have moved this forward,” Commissioner Frank Mann said.

Mann is excited about the project. He made time during the holiday week to talk to us. He mapped out how the Alico Rd. extension will connect to the intersection at SR-82 and Sunshine Blvd.

Commissioners hope the project can begin by 2025.

“You have to envision 25,000 cars leaving each morning where they’ve spent the night in Lehigh Acres, and then going to places west and southwest,” Mann said. “That’s why we’ve been focusing on this Alico extension and moving it forward.”