Officials react to Lee County’s Cape Coral Bridge rebuilding plan
The 60-year-old Cape Coral Bridge will be replaced with a new six-lane, near $219 million rebuild.
The Lee County Commission formalized its earlier consensus Tuesday, Feb. 21, to construct two totally new spans, each featuring three traffic lanes as well as bike and breakdown lanes, rather than rebuild only the westbound lanes and widen the parallel eastbound lanes as vessel collision protection system.
The project will help alleviate the massive congestion that occurs on and around the bridge every workday in Cape Coral and Fort Myers. It will also help Cape Coral improve a business climate that has been a fact of life there since its inception.
“This is excellent news for our residents, visitors, and workforce. The bridge enhancements will alleviate traffic for all who live, work, learn, and play in our ever-growing city,” said city of Cape Coral spokesperson Kaitlyn Mullen. “The new bridge will benefit economic development with improved traffic flow, reducing congestion.”
Donna Germain, president and CEO of the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce, hailed the news as something that, once completed, will be a boon to the city.
“Like any project of this scale, we may see some challenges during construction. I believe once completed, it will be a much-needed improvement to the gateway to our city,” Germain said in an e-mail. “Cape Coral is very supportive of its business community; I do not expect that to change during the construction process.”
A rejected option the commission considered would come it at an estimated $20 million less but the expanded span would have had a much shorter traffic life – 35 years as compared the new bridge’s 75.
“The design changes for the Cape Coral Bridge are to replace both the eastbound and westbound spans gaining an additional 40-plus years of useful life at the present-day value of $20 million,” officials said in a release announcing the vote.
“Our bridges are getting older and combined with our continued growth as a community, improvements to our infrastructure are a necessity,” Germain said. “We are also excited for the improvements proposed like the walking path.”
Initial plans were for the cheaper option. However, the latest Florida Department of Transportation design requirements would have significantly increased the cost of widening the eastbound lanes, officials said.
“It made no sense to repair a bridge that would last another 35 years versus doing a project that will last 75 to 100 years for virtually the same amount of money. It was the best use of the tax payers’ dollars,” County Commissioner Brian Hamman said.
Construction is slated to begin in 2027. The Cape Coral Bridge will remain open and the current four-lane configuration will be maintained throughout construction.
The Feb. 21 vote was one of three commission votes approving bridge construction.
Commissioners also voted to award a construction contract to replace the Big Carlos Pass Bridge, as well as to approve resiliency measures and recreational amenities for the Sanibel Causeway.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com