Cutting down on truck traffic on McGregor Boulevard

Giant trucks are rumbling on roads meant to connect neighborhoods, and now city leaders want to eliminate trucks from the roads completely.

McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers has become a place where trucks roll through, but people who live on or near these roads are saying that it’s becoming dangerous.

In a city council meeting, officials discussed what it would take to remove the trucks from the road without causing traffic to back up elsewhere.

Neighbors told us they don’t want the trucks to come down McGregor Boulevard anymore.

The solution is to find other routes and roads to travel down, and that is just a start to keep the quiet, peaceful neighborhood feel.

Ben Burkert lives along McGregor Boulevard in the historic district near downtown Fort Myers.

Burkert grew up here and loves to go for walks with his dog, Bow, but safety is always on his mind.

“There are multiple crosswalks along McGregor where people can press the button and have lights flash, and cars are supposed to stop for them. I see trucks blow through that all the time, and I’m sure part of it’s because it’s hard for them to stop, but they’re still blowing through the crosswalk,” he said.

Fort Myers City Council member Liston Bochette said he wants to see more of the “no-thru trucks” signs around McGregor Boulevard soon.

“An average dump truck weighs 90,000 pounds, and they’re moving through there at 30-40 miles an hour; there’s no way they could stop for a pedestrian. They’re destroying the roads we just put in,” Bochette said.

The Fort Myers City Council has agreed to review an ordinance and see what changes can be made.

“That will not restrict the people who live in that area for deliveries, for construction, maintenance, but it will stop the cut-through traffic, and that’s the whole intent is just don’t use a residential road, the most scenic highway for a cut through,” Bochette said.

For Burkert, this is a relief, but either way, it won’t stop him and Bow.

“The trucks aren’t going to scare me away, but it would be nice if there was some control over them,” he said.

Now, the city already plans to put up signs alerting drivers south of Colonial Boulevard and south of Royal Palm Square Boulevard.

When that will all be done, it just depends on whether the city approves the change.