Temporary light at SR-82, SR-29 intersection in Collier causes daily backups

Florida Department of Transportation installed a temporary light at the intersection of State Road 82 and State Road 29 in Collier County to help with traffic, as crews work through construction.

People in the area are frustrated with this current change because it’s become the cause of traffic backups heading toward the intersection.

“I can see the street from my house, and some afternoons its backed up all the way to the traffic light,” said Joyce Crump in Immokalee.

Crump is talking about the traffic light by the Winn-Dixie in Immokalee four miles from the intersection of SR-82 and SR-29. She isn’t the only one who sees the traffic. Her sons, who commute from Lehigh Acres, sit in traffic on their trip home.

“They both have to wait, you know, wait through it,” Crump said. “The mornings aren’t too bad, so afternoons, they have to wait.”

Drivers told us they sit in rush hour traffic for close to 30 to 45 minutes. The reason is the traffic converges into one lane because of this construction at the state road intersection.

The project will expand SR-82 to make it a four-lane, divided highway, thereby easing the traffic flow.

During construction, crews added a temporary light to help with traffic, but people who travel through there think the addition does the opposite.

“There’s more traffic now than there is in the summer, but it’s a bad time,” Crump said.

We used a stopwatch to check the timing of the light coming from SR-82. It stays green for an average 45 seconds, sometimes as low as 20 seconds. It’s red for about two minutes

The traffic signal will remain until construction is complete in summer 2022. FDOT says it’s working to reduce the impact of traffic at the intersection. It will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as needed

“They got to get that road fixed,” Crump said.