County to conduct traffic studies for Midpoint Bridge
Traffic flow considerations part of the process as construction costs climb for planned lane expansion
During a workshop on Wednesday, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners discussed ways they can improve traffic flow at each end of the Midpoint Bridge that connects Cape Coral and Fort Myers.
Labeled as a “Tier 1” project, the total cost of widening of the Midpoint Bridge to six lanes has increased since 2022, with an estimated cost of $193,416,426 three years ago, to $588,696,299 in 2025.
Lee County Director of Transportation Director, Rob Price, said during the workshop said that cost estimates have been updated as a result of the Cape Coral Bridge project, using the refined data and applying that to the Midpoint project.
Price said, “One of the things that we’re asking the board’s concurrence with us is to let us move forward with a traffic engineering study that’s going to look at the corridor as a whole. Perhaps the study can come back and tell us maybe there’s some intersection improvements at Del Prado (Boulevard) and Veterans (Boulevard) and at Summerlin (Road) and Colonial (Boulevard) that can address the congestion.”
Price said he hopes the study, which has the potential to look all the way to County Club Boulevard, could bring back some recommendations to the board for further discussion.
“Right now, there hasn’t been any money spent on it anyway,” Price said.
As of Wednesday’s meeting, there are 10 “Tier 1” projects in the pipeline, with talks of an additional project featuring Burnt Store Road to upgrade from Tier 2.
According to data presented at the workshop, the county has $1,009,594,328 marked as “spent/budgeted,” with $986,575,6654 as “unfunded balance,” and total project costs of all 10 projects at $1,996,169,902.
Lee County spokesperson, Betsy Clayton, in an email reiterated, “Lee County discussed exploring alternative approaches to alleviating traffic congestion, particularly in the area along Colonial Boulevard and Summerlin Road over the river to Country Club Road. This effort is aimed at identifying cost-effective and practical solutions to improve traffic flow.
“There was no vote taken, as no votes occur at workshops.
“The bridge project remains a Tier 1 project.”