Littleton Road widening project now complete
City partnered with Lee County
Motorists and pedestrians can now enjoy the completed widening project of Littleton Road in North Fort Myers.
“The City of Cape Coral is proud to have partnered with Lee County to support the Littleton Road widening project, which will not only enhance connectivity for our residents in north Cape Coral, but also promote opportunities for continued growth throughout the region. We thank our partners at the county for working with us to turn this vision into reality,” Mayor John Gunter said.
A virtual ribbon-cutting video was released on Thursday, Oct. 30, showing Commissioner Brian Hamman driving along the road, while sharing the enhancements that were made through the project.
Hamman said the project was all about safety and efficiency – efficiency because 60% of people that work and live in Cape Coral actually drive over the bridge to go to work every day.
“They used to come to the end of Kismet, and they had to make a left turn and a right turn to get onto Littleton,” he said. “Well, now it’s one straight shot to get people over into North Fort Myers.”
As he was driving, he pinpointed an intersection that he thinks a lot of drivers used to find very dangerous.
“It was the intersection of Littleton and Corbett. It was almost like a Y shape, but now you can see it’s a smooth roundabout,” Hamman said. “It’s pretty clear that you yield to the traffic that is coming and if it is clear, you can just roll right through.”
A highlight of the project are the sidewalks on both sides of the road, he said.
“We had to make sure this road was safe for the residents to use,” Hamman said. “Now they don’t have to worry about cars, they have their own bike lanes and sidewalks that are plenty wide enough to get out of traffic and be safe.”
Crosswalks are also another huge improvement along the road.
“We wanted to make sure that they have to get across the road from one side to the other, they could do it safely with those marked crosswalks,” Hamman said.
Residents who live off of Littleton Road also have a safe way to get out of traffic and turn into their communities. Another improvement was for cars that are waiting in the pick-up line from Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School.
“This project, I think, successfully helped that situation and hopefully drivers will be able to get in and out of school much more efficiently and safely,” Hamman said.
Lee County Department of Transportation Director Rob Price said the project has been a dedicated and collaborative effort to enhance the quality of life for residents of Cape Coral and North Fort Myers.
“From the beginning the vision was to transform this roadway into a corridor that not only improves safety and traffic efficiency, but supports a variety of transportation modes,” he said.
The project included 148,500 cubic yards of earthwork, 7,400 tons of asphalt, 2.3 miles of storm drain, and 12,713 square yards of concrete sidewalks and driveways.
The first phase of the project began in January 2020 and was completed in March 2021, and included the western segment of Littleton Road. The improvements included realigning Littleton Road at the Kismet Parkway/NE 24th Avenue intersection, construction of a new four-lane roadway from Northeast 24th Avenue to Corbett Road, as well as an added two-lane lighted roundabout at Corbett Road.
The second phase began in January 2024 to widen Littleton Road from the Corbett Road roundabout east to US 41. This segment includes a 11-foot-wide travel lane in each direction and a 12-foot-wide center turn lane with landscaped planting islands. There is also the widening of an existing bridge crossing, embankment and landscaping and irrigation enhancements.
The project also includes two 4-foot on-road bike lanes, two concrete sidewalks that are 6 feet wide on the south side and 8-feet-wide on the north side, drainage improvements and lighting.
The video may be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-AAHa6TrA .
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com