Lee County working to solve traffic congestion on Logan Boulevard

Traffic is terrible, especially now, during season. But Lee County planners want to hear those complaints from you so they can try to fix the problem, and many are focused on the Logan Boulevard extension as a cause.

The 2.5-mile project to extend Logan Boulevard to Bonita Beach Road was a way to create a convenient path for residents to get to Bonita Beach and avoid traffic jams on I-75. It cost the county nearly $3 million and was complete by 2020. But too many people know about this alternate route and the road isn’t able to handle the volume of bumper-to-bumper traffic that drivers get stuck in starting at around 3 p.m. on weekdays.

“Maybe a four-lane instead of single-lane [road] going up and down,” said motorist Arthur Lucian. “Because you can find a, let’s say, a lawn care service: They’re doing, what, 20 miles an hour and just backs right on up. Backs all the way down to the Immokalee when people trying to make the turn. And there’s three or four developments in there, too. I’m sure there’s people who put it as a disadvantage.”

Donald Scott, the director of the Lee County Municipal Planning Organization says the complaints are mostly from evening traffic. Traffic backs up north of Bonita Beach Road South, sometimes all the way to Pine Ridge, which is what sends everyone looking for an alternate route.

“What is it going to look like in the future?” Scott said. “That’s an ongoing thing. And that’s where we’re putting a lot of what we hope will resolve some of the issues that we are having, because it’s backing up, you know, southbound morning interaction between Lee down to Collier and then northbound in the evening.”

When asked if another lane might be in the works on Logan Boulevard near Bonita Beach, Scott told WINK News the plan was always to have two lanes because there isn’t much room to expand.

You can tell the Lee MPO about your opinion on these traffic issues by visiting the Southwest Connect website or by emailing Donald Scott at dscott@leempo.com.