Drivers ticketed for cutting through North Fort Myers parking lot

Reporter: Claire Galt
Published: Updated:

Driver after driver after driver, who had no regard for anyone else, got aggressive while trying to get from North Fort Myers to downtown.

People driving down U.S. 41 were turning and cutting through a Big Lots parking lot to get onto Pondella Road, avoiding all bumper-to-bumper traffic caused by the shutdown of the Cloosahatchee Bridge.

Big Lots manager Donella Decker told WINK News it was chaos.

“I actually had to kind of force my way across so they could actually get into my building this morning,” said Decker. “So every opening had lines of traffic everywhere. Tons of people cutting through the parking lot.”

Two Lee County sheriff’s deputies waited nearby to spot rule breakers.

One deputy told WINK News reporter Claire Galt he had seen more than 100 cars zip through but only handed out a few tickets.

Sitting in her car in the parking lot, watching it all, was Lydia Houlette.

“I don’t even know where I’m going, to tell you the truth. I’m lost,” said Houlette.

Lydia wanted to take the Caloosahatchee Bridge to McGregor Boulevard.

She had no idea the Florida Department of Transportation shut down the bridge for ten weeks, and when she saw the traffic on Monday morning she got scared.

“I don’t know what to do. I am just an old lady!” said Houlette. “I’m going home. I’m going back home.”

Chris Shveida had no choice but to sit in this sea of cars on Pondella.

Shveida drives a Coca-Cola truck, and while he appreciates everyone’s need for a Coke and a smile, he was not happy with all the sitting around.

“It wasn’t moving at all. Not at all. Probably took me over an hour to get through there. Over an hour,” he said.

The good news is that most people’s commute into Fort Myers on day one of the bridge shutdown went better than expected.

We’ll see what happens on Tuesday, day two of the closure.

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