The Lee County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to award a $332,366 contract to repair the traffic signal at the intersection of Estero Boulevard and Old San Carlos Boulevard on Fort Myers Beach. The light has been down and out since Hurricane Ian.
Construction is expected to begin in June and be complete in September 2026, 4 years after Hurricane Ian took out the light.Â
All the traffic experts who’ve been working on the new traffic lights leading up to the Matanzas Pass bridge and coming over the bridge have said when all the lights are operational, they will all be synched to help with traffic flow. The intersection of Ester and Old San Carlos is the busiest pedestrian walkway on Fort Myers Beach, especially during season, when visitors are making their way to and from the beach.Â
The reason it’s taking so long for the county to repair the traffic light is because the money is coming from FEMA and during the first round of bids, only one bid was submitted. FEMA requires three bids so the county staff had to go through the process of asking FEMA to waive that requirement. FEMA does not allow municipalities to move forward on their own and make repairs and then submit for reimbursement.
The work will include removing and replacing all wiring, installing new electrical service and load center, new traffic signal controller assembly, new signal heads, new video detection system, new pedestrian signal assemblies and refreshed pavement markings. This work incorporates resiliency measures to elevate electrical signal equipment and better protect it from water damage.
$330K….just hire someone to direct traffic…$330K would pay someone for years to do that for the times it’s needed..
As the town of FMB celebrates its decision to separate from Lee County 30 years ago, it should not wonder why it could take 4 years to replace a single traffic light, when the light is the responsibility of the County, and the light is solely for the benefit of FMB.
Typical of FMB. Just another example of poor management.
Yawn……….
Why would they not have submitted 3 bids originally knowing this would be delayed due to the necessary waiver?
I’d guess that no other companies wanted to bother with dealing with FEMA and trying to get paid from them.