MEL TOADVINE A ground breaking ceremony was held last week marking the official beginning of the widening of 2.7 miles of Colonial Blvd., from I-75 to Lehigh Acres.

Lehigh Acres motorists who drive back and forth via Colonial Blvd. to jobs in other parts of Lee County sit in traffic for the 2.7 mile stretch from the six lanes of Colonial Blvd. on the west side of the Internet.

But within two years, the remaining part of Colonial Blvd. to Lee Blvd., the entrance into Lehigh, will have been completed, greatly relieving traffic congestion and according to one Lee County commissioner, the project will help to make Lehigh the beautiful place it was meant to be.

They were the words of Commissioner Tammy Hall at a special ground breaking ceremony held Sept. 16 under a tent put up by the county not far from Treeline Blvd.

Lee County Frank Mann was the master of ceremonies. He represents eastern Lee County, including Lehigh Acres on the county’s Board of Commissioners.

Mann noted how the widening to six lanes will bring more growth to Lehigh and he praised John Albion, who he said had represented this district of Lehigh and had always fought for the widening of Colonial all the way to Lehigh Acres.

MEL TOADVINE Joe Whalen, president and CEO of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, speaks of the added benefits of the final widning of Colonial Blvd. to Lehigh.

“He’s not here with us today as he is the executive director of the Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce, but John would be quite pleased. It was when he was on the Lee County Commission that the talk began about the widening of Colonial all the way from Route 41 to Lee Blvd. Colonial Blvd. has been widened to six lanes to I-75 and now with work beginning, the rest of the busy highway will be widened.

Motorists have notice the presence of what seems like hundreds of orange and white plastic barrels along the sides of the area of Colonial to be widened. The work for the project actually began in August with environmental workers setting up black plastic to protect property not on the right-of-way.

Lehigh Acres Chamber President and CEO Joseph Whalen was very pleased that the project has been started.

He noted how important it was that with the final phase of the widening project completed, it will make Colonial Blvd. safer and residents of Lehigh won’t have to wait in line in the mornings and later in the afternoons to go to work and come home.

The 2.7 miles left to be widened has turned into a bottle neck since all of Colonial is six lanes now.

MEL TOADVINE Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann at Colonial Blvd. ground breaking ceremony.

The cost of the project is $16,7 million and funding is being supplied by the Florida Dept. of Transportaion with $5 million; the City of Fort Myers with $4 million and $7.7 million come from Lee County from gas taxes and impact fees.

In addition to Hall, Mann and Whalen, others who spoke at the special ceremony were Thomas Leonardo, a city councilman from Fort Myers; and Bo Turbeville, chairman of Weed & Seed in Lehigh and also president of the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. (LACPC).

He also expressed pleasure that motorists would find it easier to drive to and from Fort Myers for work and entertainment.

“Some 80 percent of the work force in Lee county comes from Lehigh and goes an average distance of 15 miles to work. Lehigh Acres needs improvements of our roads. With the widening of Colonial, it will be saver for drivers and do away with congestion.

Other members of the Lee County Commission were invited to the ceremony, but were unable to attend. Mann said he spoke for all of them that they were delighted to see the final phase of the widening of Colonial begun.

MEL TOADVINE Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall talks to the group assembled to observe the ground breaking of the widening of Colonial Blvd., just outside Lehigh Acres.

The roadway is in Fort Myers which stretches to a point on Lee Blvd. close to the industrial park. He noted that construction to widen SR82 would likely begin in January of February, which was a surprise to most attending the ceremony.

“Better late than never,” Leonardo said.

After the ceremony under the tent, the group walked out to finish the ceremony with ground breaking ceremonies which included many of those who were at the ceremony. Behind them was water and stumps leaving about 20 acres of what will become a lake or water retention area. Workers will continue to use heavy machinery to dig into the new lake for soil and rock.

One other benefit of the new widening of this last section of Colonial is it will make it easier for Lehigh residents to get to the Interstate 75 ramps.

Sidewalks will be constructed on both sides of the road and there will b e bus stop pads constructed for LeeTran bus service.

The average daily number of vehicles now using colonial Blvd., is 32,000, according to Lee County Transportation officials.

Lee County Dept., of Transportation will serve as the project manager working with the City of fort Myers utilities Dept. which will serve as the project manager for the city’s utility relocation project.

“We’re going to see a big difference when this part of Colonial Blvd. is completed. It’s a long time on the drawing board and when it is completed, it will make it easier for people of the county and especially Lehigh to travel this main east west corridor,” Mann said later.