Possible solutions discussed to traffic on Immokalee Road

People who travel on Immokalee Road in Collier County say their commute has been getting longer and longer. They don’t believe the road was designed to keep up with the growth. Now, there’s talk about creating solutions.

If you think Immokalee Road is busy now, Collier County projects a 40% increase in population within the next 20 years. So, the time is now to make room for more cars.

At about 7:30 every morning, Kerri Askew gets on Logan Boulevard to take her kids to school. But, when she gets to the light at Immokalee Road, she usually spends a while there. “You try to speed to get through it and if you don’t, you know, you’re going to be sitting there about 4-5 minutes which to me seems pretty ridiculous,” Askew said.

Askew is just one of the thousands of frustrated drivers who have to deal with the congestion on Immokalee Road.

Pamela Stracka lives in North Naples. “I’m leaving 10 minutes earlier each week to get to work on time,” Straka said.

Carole Norem says it wasn’t like this when she arrived here. “I am from New York so, I am sort of conditioned to be inconvenienced but I didn’t have it here and I don’t like it,” Norem says.

Conditions often don’t get better when everyone’s at work and school. However, Collier County says its considering multiple options to solve this problem. Those improvements range from small things like lane improvements to larger projects such as putting an overpass on Livingston Road.

Those improvements may not be enough for drivers like Pamela Stracka. “When I retire I’m moving out of Naples. It’s just too congested,” said Stracka.

An immediate improvement that Collier County can tackle is adjusting the traffic lights. In November, the county is going to install what it calls an “adaptive traffic control system” on all lights between Livingston Road and Logan Boulevard. The system is designed to reduce congestion based on real-time traffic.