Lee County outlines Bonita Beach Road resurfacing, signal and pedestrian improvements

Lee County officials onstage in Bonita Springs said the county has completed and planned road and signal work intended to ease congestion and improve pedestrian access along Bonita Beach Road and adjacent corridors.

The county manager, Dave Harner, introduced the presentation and turned it over to Rob Price, director of the Lee County Department of Transportation, who detailed recent work and projects coming to procurement. "In 2024, we spent $1,600,000 to resurface Bonita Beach Road from Mango to the Fishtrap Bridge," Price said, adding that the work included signal upgrades and Americans with Disabilities Act pedestrian improvements. Price said the county has also retimed signals and added communications from signals back to the county's Traffic Operations Center to allow real‑time monitoring and quicker responses to failures.

Price said the traffic operations phone number is 239‑533‑5762 and urged residents to call if they encounter unusual congestion so staff can monitor the signal and dispatch repairs. He described a project scheduled to begin procurement that will extend resurfacing from the Fishtrap Bridge location through the Kings Q intersection, add pedestrian improvements and restore a nonfunctioning crosswalk damaged during recent hurricanes. Price said the county expects the board to consider the construction contract in May and hopes construction will finish by the end of the summer.

Price also described a capacity project at Old 41 where the county plans to convert a painted “gore” area into a usable through lane and slightly realign a left‑turn lane to add a third through lane eastbound approaching I‑75; he said the county expects funding to be available within about 12 months. He noted other work including median improvements, a closed Hunters Ridge intersection for safety reasons, and coordination on a future signal at a Publix location tied to the Midtown Bonita development.

During the presentation a commissioner interjected to ask whether an extension of County Road 951 was planned; the commissioner (name not specified in the transcript) said it was not on the county's forecast. Price characterized planning tiers as the next 10 years (tier 1), the following 10 years (tier 2) and beyond (tier 3), and said the 951 extension is not on any of those tiers.

No formal votes were recorded during the presentation; officials described planned procurement steps and said some items will come before the board for approval in the coming months.