City of Fort Myers says businesses were warned ahead of Fowler closure

Drivers are ignoring closed road signs on a busy street.

And that’s because there’s no other way to get to the businesses along the closed stretch of Fowler in Fort Myers.

It’s shut down between Alicia and Lafayette for two weeks for construction and it’s causing headaches. The stretch of Fowler where work is being done is also the same stretch that floods, but the sewer pipe construction crews are replacing has nothing to do with the flooding.

Fort Myers Public Works Director Richard Moulton said the city warned businesses for two weeks running up to the Fowler Street shut down.

But, those businesses told WINK News that was news to them.

Fowler is a busy street bordered by businesses that depend on that traffic.

But for the next two weeks, no one can go down the blocked-off roadway.

“They’ve got detours and the street is dead because nobody can go by,” said Fulgencio Lopez, who owns Fuji’s Automotive.

“It will have an impact. It definitely will have an impact,” Lopez said.

“The “streets closed” signs are up so construction crews can replace a were line that has reached the end of its useful life.

Lopez said the problem is not the work but the lack of communication beforehand. Employees are forced to drive around the detour signs to get to work.

The closure is planned for two weeks but it could open ahead of time.