Palm Beach Boulevard, other Fort Myers roads could become two-way streets

All the one-way roads in downtown Fort Myers make driving through the area a headache. City officials know this, and in the next month, they want to hear from you about the design of the roads and plans to make them run two ways.

The two main goals for reworking the area are economic impact and safety. The City of Fort Myers hopes by making Palm Beach Boulevard a two-way road, it will make it more convenient and also safer for both drivers and pedestrians. Mayor Kevin Anderson says a lot of people currently use the road like a speedway, and hopes this will slow that down.

Then, of course, the City hopes it will also attract more businesses to this area. There are many empty lots and buildings along Palm Beach Boulevard, and Anderson says Fort Myers is working with Florida International University to see how to revitalize this corridor, much like was done downtown.

The new plan would turn Palm Beach Boulevard, Seaboard Street, Second Street and part of Fowler Street back into two-way roadways. There will also be bike lanes, sidewalks and some landscaping to spruce it up.

“I’m all for it, because we always have to plan which way we’re going out: If I’m going one way, I have to go out this way; when I’m going out another way, I have to go out that way,” said Brian Johnson, who lives near Palm Beach Boulevard. “I mean, certainly, turning out onto it is, I think, a little bit dangerous, given the speed of the traffic out there, and so I think that if they turn it into a two-way, it will probably slow down just a little bit.”

“You know, on the local level, of course, we are concerned with convenience, we’re concerned with economic impact, development and, of course, safety,” Anderson said. “It’s because of the calls to get this straight into a two-way that will hopefully get some of these lots developed.”

40 years ago, the boulevard was a two-way road when there wasn’t much development. At the time, Anderson was a patrol officer, and said he spent all day driving around and cautioning drivers about the coming change. He said he expects to see a lot of that this time around, too.

There will be a citizens’ input meeting on the designs in April, and Anderson is hopeful construction can begin by the end of the year.

Changes to Palm Beach Boulevard will impact WINK News and its broadcast center. Station senior management, however, has no comment on the proposed changes.