Traffic cams watching in Cape Coral for study

Skyline Boulevard in Cape Coral is busy for drivers and those on two wheels and two legs, and there’s more research being done to get help.

In February, WINK News reported Cape Coral discussed adding five-foot sidewalks along Skyline Blvd.

From a bird’s-eye-view, Cape Coral is monitoring Skyline Blvd. traffic.

“People speed. People just like drive like garbage. They don’t use their turn signals,” Nicholas Paukstis, a Cape Coral resident, said.

But bad drivers aren’t exactly what city leaders are looking for from the cameras mounted on poles in the area. The cameras count how many people and bikers are on Skyline Blvd., inches away from the cars.

“Weekdays after 8:30 it’s constant. If you’re a bike rider and you want to use Skyline because of the wide roads. You should be off the road by nine on the weekend between seven and nine,” Mark Toretsky, a Cape Coral resident, said.

Cape Coral plans to use that data to determine if sidewalks should be installed. Last month, council members weren’t sure if it would be worth it because Skyline isn’t within two miles of a school zone.

Paukstis lives nearby and explained that shouldn’t matter. Rather, safety of everyone is what’s important.

“I feel like, I’m always kind of like looking over my shoulder just to make sure nobody’s like not paying attention or like gonna swerve off the road,” Paukstis said.

Although, others in the neighborhood feel differently.

“I don’t think you need sidewalks, it’s wide enough here for walkers and runners and bikers to come on,” Toretsky said.

Either way, the cameras are staying on Skyline Blvd.