Collier County studying traffic congestion on Immokalee Road, looking for solutions

Too many traffic lights and too much congestion.

Those are some of the complaints people have about Immokalee Road in North Naples.

“We always say Immokalee and Pine Ridge are the worst,” said Chloe Pankita, of Collier County. “We always avoid them and go around them.”

Pankita said she plans ahead whenever she has to go somewhere.

“I always have to add in more time because there are so many lights on Immokalee,” Pankita said.

The Immokalee Road traffic study shows if nothing is done to help traffic congestion, by 2040 cars on the road are expected to go from 43,400 to 72,450.

“It’s gotten very much worse than it was a few years ago,” said Doin Hicks, also of Collier County.

That’s why traffic engineers came up with nine major intersections on Immokalee Road from Livingston to Logan Boulevard that could use some work.

They asked for community input and receive more than 600 responses.

“Some of the feedback is, do it now like, why wait? We want something to happen,” said Lorraine Lantz, project manager. “We are excited for these changes”

While many people are on board with changes like adding a turn lane or putting an overpass, some plans are more complicated.

“The diverging interchange is a little different. We’ve done the survey, and 40 percent said they haven’t heard of it and they weren’t familiar with it,” Lantz said.

With that information, the county can now help people understand how it will help with traffic flow like it does at the I-75 ramp in Sarasota.

“We are now moving forward and asking people and homeowner associations if they want us to meet with them to explain some of the recommendations,” Lantz said.

The public comment period has been extended to April 30. After it is over, the findings will be provided to county commissioners.

MORE:

For more information on the traffic study for Immokalee Road or to participate in the public comment period, visit here and then look for the tab that says “Current-Immokalee Road Corridor Congestion Study.”

Comments can also be made here.