New Amazon sortation center began operations Monday, could bring faster deliveries

A new Amazon sortation center officially opened Monday in Lee County off Alico Road.

Two main questions people have are, will this new facility cause more traffic jams along Alico Road, and will my packages arrive quicker?

The county officials we spoke with said that Amazon has a plan in place for increased traffic from the facility at 16391 Domestic Ave, but what exactly that plan is, Amazon wouldn’t say.

On Monday, the only traffic was caused by the dozens of people attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new 104,860-square-foot white and blue facility.

Lee County District 2 Councilman Cecil Pendergrass said, that if traffic is being caused by an influx of new jobs and more people moving to Southwest Florida, it might be a good problem to have. “It was great to see the community come together to welcome Amazon here to Southwest Florida … Just some more great jobs here in lee county,” he added.

It will create more than 200 full- and part-time jobs where employees will help sort and ship customer orders.

Prospective employees can find more information at amazon.com/apply.

As of Monday afternoon, the Amazon website listed 94 available shifts for Sortation Center Warehouse Associates, and 39 Fulfillment Center Warehouse Associates, available among other positions in Lee County.

While not confirmed directly by Amazon, the job description says “You will be selecting, packing, and shipping orders – in some cases, for our super-fast (2-hour or less) delivery service,” potentially bringing the 2-hour-or less shipping to Southwest Florida.

Adjacent to the sorting center, a separate 180,000-square-foot industrial building is under construction. That will become a delivery station for Amazon to be completed next year.

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson calls it “a very impressive operation,” applauding more jobs that people in his community can apply for.

However, could it add more congestion to an already crowded Alico Road near I-75?

“Traffic is always a concern,” Anderson said. “I mean, as we grow in, you know, there’s 1,100 people a day moving to Florida, and a lot of them are coming to Southwest Florida, so traffic’s always gonna be a challenge. It’s my understanding that they’re very aware of that and they do their best to make sure they’re not sending the trucks out, right in the middle of everything.”

He added, “It sure beats you know, looking at empty roadways because nobody’s working and businesses are shutting down.”

The facility is fully operational on the inside, but they’re not rolling out a plethora of trucks just yet.

We reached out to Amazon for comment and have not heard back. WINK News was also not allowed inside the facility while attending the ribbon-cutting.