He also works for WGCU News, and can be reached at 2023 WGCU. Mike Walcher is a visiting assistant professor in the Journalism program at FGCU. "You are in a 2,000 pound vehicle, and one little mistake could be someone's life," he said. In the meantime Jester pleaded with drivers to resist road rage as interstate congestion increases. Jester said money is available for those interchange improvements, and he expects construction to begin at Daniels and Pine Ridge in the fall of 2024. They will be like Colonial, which is under construction now. FDOT's Jester confirmed that Daniels and Pine Ridge Road will become diverging diamond interchanges. The Daniels interchange is next in line for improvements. You put on the blinker, try to get over to get off at Daniels, and nobody gives you a pass. Other people on the road are so angry lately," she said. She said the heavy rush hour traffic brings out the worst in some drivers. That project cost roughly $500 million.Ĭarolina Nieto of Estero said she is driving in 75 congestion most days in both counties. "Figuring out where to find the money, so we can build it."įDOT added a third lane to I-75 in both directions about 15 years ago. "That's one of the first things we are working on," he said. Jester said widening might not begin for 10 years, unless FDOT can find more money. FDOT said it is studying whether to charge tolls for use express lanes.īut right now the road planners need money design the wider interstate, much less pay for construction of more lanes. The agency also wants to add express lanes to the interstate north of Corkscrew Road in Estero. Interstate 75 near Gainesville was shut down early Tuesday. Tuesday that the interstate had re-opened after being closed nearly all day. Special to WGCU FDOT wants to add one lane in each direction of I-75 in a 42-mile stretch from County Road 951 in Collier, north to the Bayshore exit in Lee County. The Florida Highway Patrol said in a tweet at 10:20 p.m. FDOT said it is studying whether to charge tolls for use express lanes. "We're well over $2 billion with everything that's been identified," Jester said.įDOT wants to add one lane in each direction of I-75 in a 42-mile stretch from County Road 951 in Collier, north to the Bayshore exit in Lee County. "It would come to a standstill."īut cost is an issue. "If we were to do nothing, well, nothing on the interstate would really be moving," Jester said. And it needs better traffic flow at the interchanges along the way. The agency's interstate project manager, Joshua Jester, said the area needs more interstate lanes by 2045 at the latest. The numbers come from the Florida Department of Transportation, FDOT. That's the cost in today's dollars, and the time frame, to add more lanes to I-75 in the most populated areas of Lee and Collier counties, and to improve interchanges along the interstate.
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