City council may make select downtown Fort Myers streets into two-ways

Along Palm Beach Blvd., most drivers say cars speed, go the wrong way or back up traffic. Now, the City of Fort Myers has an idea to attract more people to the area by transforming a one-way street into a two-way.

Palm Beach Blvd. is a heavily traveled street drivers try to beat traffic on, especially during rush hour. People who live and work here said, allowing traffic to flow in both directions will slow people down.

“Getting here home is a bit inconvenient,” Charles Taylor said. “You have to go around the block the whole time.”

Fort Myers city council is talking about changing a one-way street into a two-way. The change will happen on First St., Second St. and Seaboard St.

For Taylor, who has lived in the area for four years, he said that is welcoming news.

“It will slow down the traffic, which will be helpful,” Taylor said. “It will generally make downtown more accessible.”

Both factors are keys to the engineering proposal. First St. was initially a two-way street, but the city changed it back. If the city council gives the go-ahead, pre-work will start by Thanksgiving as they will mark and resurface the pavement.

City council’s next step is to approve three potential engineering firms. The project would still have to go through the design phase, which is projected to cost $3.6 million.

Kelly Richards, who owns a store between the First and Second streets, said she believes the change will help her business.

“That’s great – it’s going to hit right around season for us,” Richards said. “It will help people slow down a bit a see what’s downtown.”

The report said there is enough room on the roads for the change and they could even put a bicycle lane, which would “calm traffic” and “tighten the driver’s perspective.”

“If everyone can be concise about their surrounding,” Richards said. “It will be a great thing.”