Project to expand Colonial/Fowler intersection in Fort Myers

Reporter: Emma Heaton Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published:
The intersection of Colonial Boulevard and Fowler Street. Credit: WINK News

The Florida Department of Transportation is re-imagining the future of our roads and it is focusing on key intersections, including the corner of Colonial Boulevard and Fowler Street.

An FDOT spokesperson says changes are still in the design phase, but engineers can already see that congestion is an issue at that intersection. They decided that it needs another right turn lane from Fowler onto Colonial. Engineers also noticed how busy it is for bicyclists and pedestrians well as drivers, so they’re working on plans to make it safer for them. These ideas will be presented at a public meeting on Wednesday.

“The first one is going to be… the radius of the curve for vehicles is going to be a little bit tighter, which is going to do in effect is going to slow them down, which will give them more time to see the pedestrians,” said Patricia Pichette with FDOT District 1. “The other thing is we’re going to do is repaint the lines so that the crosswalk lines are going to be further away from the vehicle stop line, which, again, gives them more time to see the pedestrian and to realize that they’re there before they make the turn.”

FDOT also wants to install new mast arm signals, removing the need for the current hanging stoplights.

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