Colonial and I-75 diverging diamond to be completed by spring

The diverging diamond at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Fort Myers is diverting drivers. Most people try to avoid this problematic area, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

“This is the most insane thing that I’ve ever been through,” said Tamara Thompkins-McKeeman, a frequent driver down the 3.1-mile-long project. “All these people trying to go, and then you have people screaming at each other, flipping everybody off, like, oh my God, how’s anybody ever going to be able to get anywhere on time?”

The $52.7 million project which has been in the works for more than four years has a completion date set for the end of April.

Saturday night, the Florida Department of Transportation told WINK News that it would close all but one lane each way to finish working on a continuous flow intersection at Colonial Boulevard and Six Mile Cypress.

The continuous flow intersection is section two of the project, which has four sections.

“Traffic heading west that is going to want to make a left turn to Six Mile, they’re not going to be able to make the left turn here at the intersection of Colonial Boulevard,” said Juan Carrillo, FDOT senior project engineer. “It’ll be east. And then we’ll have more volume space for them, like a storage space for traffic.”

People who drive in this area frequently know this is a big change since turning left causes a major backup. Instead, drivers will have to turn left onto nearby Rolfes Road.

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Motorists traveling south on Ortiz Avenue or north on Six Mile Cypress Parkway will only be able to turn right onto Colonial Boulevard. The straight and left turn lanes will be closed during the implementation.

When the CFI opens on Sunday morning, people traveling west on Colonial Boulevard and turning left onto Six Mile Cypress Parkway should expect to shift to the south side of Colonial Boulevard prior to the intersection.

Drivers going east on Colonial Boulevard and turning left onto Ortiz Avenue should expect to shift to the north side of Colonial Boulevard prior to the intersection.

So, what exactly is the hold-up on this project? WINK News asked FDOT.

“Many construction crews were affected or contracted COVID on multiple occasions, and then the state and the nation had shortages and supply chain issues, resulting with several construction materials, like asphalt concrete and truck driver shortages,” explained Carrillo.

Then, of course, came hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton.

“A lot of the materials and crews from local projects were diverted to help with the restoration of our roadway systems, including the temporary repairs that they did to the Sanibel Island Causeway and the causeway leading to Pine Island.”

So what’s still left to do? Well, there’s the continuous flow intersection at Colonial and Six Mile Cypress, which kicks off this weekend.

“It is going to be a big milestone for this project,” said Carrillo. “We’re not going to see those backups all the way to the diverging diamond.”

Then, there’s finishing the diverging diamond interchange at I-75, which, contrary to popular belief, is not done just yet.

“We still need to change from temporary signalization to permanent signalization,” explained Carrillo.

Lastly, there’s the area of The Forum and Colonial.

“We still got to complete the signalization, lighting, little bit of median work and friction, of course, and then we have to come back and do the thermoplastic throughout the project,” explained Carrillo.

When it’s complete, FDOT states the improvements will enhance access to I-75, as well as improve overall safety, increase capacity and facilitate emergency evacuation within Lee County.