CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- More changes for a busy Cape Coral artery. This time Department of Transportation officials want to change two turn lanes around the Del Prado intersection with Cape Coral Parkway. They say it's a dangerous area that's prone to crashes.

Anton Disselkoen owns a hair salon on SE 47th Terrace and is concerned about Lee County's decision to remove a left hand turn lane that directs drivers past his business.

"I would say a good 50 percent of our business are people coming down Del Prado, and making a left hand turn onto 47th Terrace and coming into our business. It's going to hurt us a lot. It's going to hurt every business here," he said.

But DOT Director David Loveland says this change is all in the name of safety. "As traffic has increased its gotten worse, we're seeing a lot more conflicts," Loveland said.

Lee DOT says over the past three years there have been 25 documented collisions in this area between Cape Coral Pand SE 47th Terrace on Del Prado.

The county is doing three things to curb crashes.
It's eliminating the left turn from Del Prado onto SE 47th Terrace, tightening the turn radius from Cape Coral Parkway onto Del Prado, and lowering the speed limit in this area to 35 miles an hour.

But Denise Brickner, owner of So Sweet Cupcake Bakery, is worried the changes will confuse people trying to get onto her street. "They'll have to go on Cape Coral Parkway and try to get in that turn lane by Leapin' Lizards and turn around which is going to cause congestion and accidents," she said.

Right now, you can't make a left turn if you are heading northbound on Del Prado onto SE 47th Terrace.

The changes will start taking place in February when the county starts a major resurfacing project on Del Prado.