Did solution come out of $1 million traffic study on FMB?

A three-year study costing $1 million was designed to fix traffic issues heading to Fort Myers Beach, but did a solution come of it?

“How are you going to improve on that?” asked Fort Myers resident Janice Simmons. “It’s over there before the bridge, that’s where the back up is. How are they going to fix that?”

Traffic during season on Fort Myers Beach can be a lengthy ordeal for some like Estero resident Randy Wise.

“Oh at least a couple hours, (one) to (two) hours for sure,” Wise said.

The Florida Department of Transportation spent $1 million over the last three years on a study to fix traffic issues from Summerlin Road to Cresent Street on San Carlos Boulevard.

A city council member said “it doesn’t provide (a) benefit for (the) automobile movement.”

“It seems to me like there’s been 900 studies already done,” Wise said. “I don’t know how much money you can continue to spend on studies. I think it something that’s almost impossible to improve on.”

Town council seemed concerned as well on Monday. FDOT recommends adding a traffic street at Fifth Street and closing the right turning lane ans you approach the bridge to leave the beach.

Others say the alternative may compound traffic woes.

“You put a traffic light there you can only make it worse right?” Wise said.

FDOT believes this will improve pedestrian safety, but council members aren’t convinced and say it may even cause added confusion.

Recommendations also include adjusting and adding new traffic signals on San Carlos Island, before reaching the bridge.

The study doesn’t officially end until next month. FDOT says right now it’s just conceptual and changes can be made in the design phase.