Fort Myers hosts virtual meeting on Palm Beach Boulevard two-way conversion

The City of Fort Myers hosted a virtual meeting Thursday concerning major changes to two Fort Myers roadways.

Palm Beach Boulevard will become a two-way street, and improvements to sidewalks and bike lanes are part of the project.

“If it’s one way, it’s hard for people to get around in their cars,” said Joe Stafford in Fort Myers,

The city says the driving force behind the two-way conversion is safety.

Neighbors such as Bob Waldron, who lives between First St. and Second St. say the plan will definitely make his neighborhood safer.

“People come down that road thinking it’s a highway,” Waldron said. “They pick up speed. There’s accidents all the time at the corner over here. If it’s two ways, it will stop a lot of the accidents, and it will be a lot slower and a lot safer area.”

Safety and convenience are things neighbors are ready for.

Still, some neighbors who wrote into Thursday’s meeting say they don’t think the change is needed. They are concerned about increased traffic and safety going out of their driveways.

But the city insists traffic will slow down and turning will be safe.

Waldron says he can’t wait.

“It will make life a lot easier for everyone in the area,” Waldron said.

For now, pole foundations and traffic signals will start to go up, as that work won’t disrupt your drive. Then, in the spring, once the snowbirds fly home, crews will start converting First Street and Second Street into two-way roads, opening up more options for drivers. The city says the work shouldn’t take more than six months.

City officials say extensive studies were done on First Street, Second Street and Seaboard Street which brought up safety concerns the city hopes a two-way traffic pattern will fix.

“The overwhelming reason that we are looking to convert the streets back to two-way is safety concerns,” said city engineer Nicole Monahan. “Speeding, safety concerns and traffic calming to make the more traditional two-way street because people are more used to two-way streets.”