The bus stop area between Andre Mar Drive and Connecticut on Estero Boulevard is now a testing location for Lee County to see how these red and green painted areas will help bicyclists and vehicles co-exist safely together.
With a rebuilt Estero Boulevard that includes new, smooth, wide bike lanes for nearly the entire stretch, there are more people riding bikes than ever before. There are also vehicles driving at a faster clip than they were able to when the road wasn’t so nice.
Rob Phelan from the Lee County DOT department says the county chose this “traffic conflict area” on Estero Boulevard, which includes bike lanes adjacent to a dedicated bus bay, as a demonstration project. Green paint was applied to the bike lane, red paint to the bus bay area.
Phelan says the location was selected because it presents a number of characteristics that the green bike lane markings are intended to address including helping cyclists and motorists identify areas of potential conflicts with turning vehicles. “The markings help enhance the conspicuity of the bike lanes and combined with the red bus bay paint will help reinforce the appropriate use of lanes.”
Lee County DOT will now monitor the location for use by cyclists and for performance and maintenance requirements with the goal of expanding the application to other locations on Estero Blvd.
Perhaps they need to include a Turtle Crossing, specifically for those “6 or 7 disoriented turtles” that wander off in the wrong direction every year !
TLM = “Turtle Lives Matter” 🐢
* (TM Pending Logo)
Maybe people lives matter more. Lights should not be turned off until hatching is within 10 days and only where the nest is…
How about LCSD issuing tickets to speeders? I want our island to be known as the island you better not speed on.
I like it! It really stands out and gets your attention. I just hope it doesn’t fade to light mint green and pink.
There needs to be something more between the driving and biking lanes. I’m not sure the technical term, but the reflectors that rumble when you drive over them or the bollards. I think the red and green paint is a great start, but I used to run in the bike lane, against traffic and am shocked at how many people swerve all over the road because they have their phones in their faces!! Green and red paint is not going to save that child crossing the street from the idiot that has their eyes on their phone instead of the road!
Bob, I said speed humps not bumps. Humps are the longer less abrupt option. And let’s be honest no emergency vehicles are flying down Estero. They must be as safe as they can dodging inattentive drivers and pedestrians as we are.
Speed bumps work however they are terrible for emergency vehicles. Our town opted for vertical plastic bollards in the center lane and edge of the bike lanes. The center bollards have a speed limit posted on them. The bollards create a narrowing of the lane effect and slower traffic down work as effectively as a speed bump. Some center bollards are also in a shape of a child cutout. Very effective and not intrusive.
So down the road we should expect faded-chipped road paint alongside the perennial peanut-weed patches.
How about some speed humps not the sharp bumps but bumps at every upcoming crosswalk. This will keep the speeds down on Estero. Cheap and easy fix to problem. Until season gets here where your max speed is slower than the person walking next to your car.