Traffic causing problems for people traveling to Fort Myers Beach

Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Fort Myers Beach traffic. (Credit: WINK News drone)

Warmer weather means more people heading to the beach, especially as we near the height of visitors. Getting to Fort Myers Beach this time of year takes patience.

Video from the WINK News drone showed nearly stand-still traffic on the Matanzas Pass Bridge on Monday.

If you’ve been in Southwest Florida for a while, the seasonal traffic is all too familiar. Margaret Fitzpatrick from New Jersey said she paid good money to come here and said she is fed up. “It’s bad. Already and it’s 10:30,” said Fitzpatrick.

Gary Frigon said he is done with the traffic too. There are other beaches in Southwest Florida, and he can get to them without sitting in traffic. “We tried to come down here on Saturday. We ended up turning around,” Frigon said.

The beach is what Fort Myers Beach sells to tourists around the world. The sand. The surf. A good time Traffic is the town’s open ad stress-inducing secret.

Is this traffic worse than in previous years? People who live and work here say absolutely. They say the pandemic eliminated “Season” because snowbirds didn’t fly here for the winter and leave in the spring. They stayed for a year or more and likely won’t leave when spring comes again.

Even if some people go back home, Margaritaville is coming to Fort Myers Beach and bringing with it 400 jobs and another place to party.

WINK News decided to see how long it would take to go 15 miles to the beach in the traffic on Monday. The journey took an hour and 20 minutes.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.