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Lee County awards $6.1 million in road contracts for Colonial Boulevard and Gunnery/Buckingham intersection projects
Summary
The Board awarded a $1.3 million contract for intersection improvements on Colonial Boulevard and a $4.8 million contract to build a roundabout at Gunnery and Buckingham roads; construction is scheduled to start in April for both projects.
Lee County commissioners on March 18 approved two transportation construction contracts totaling $6.1 million: a $1.3 million award to OHLA Inc. for intersection improvements on Colonial Boulevard and a $4.8 million award to V & H Construction for a new roundabout at Buckingham and Gunnery roads.
The Colonial Boulevard project covers the corridor from Summerlin Road to MacGregor Boulevard and is the board's eighth-ranked priority in Tier 1 of the county transportation list. County Department of Transportation staff said the project will repurpose the northbound approach on Summerlin Road to allow a three-lane left-turn movement and include pedestrian improvements at MacGregor Boulevard. Rob Price, who presented the item for DOT, said construction is expected to begin in April with completion by this winter.
The Gunnery/Buckingham project will construct a roundabout at the intersection; the county received $4.6 million in federal funding toward the $4.8 million construction contract, and staff said construction is expected to begin in April and last about a year. Rob Price said the intersection ranked No. 2 in a Metropolitan Planning Organization feasibility study and that the roundabout addresses rising traffic in East Lee County.
Public comment: One nearby resident said adding a third left-turn lane at Summerlin may not ease congestion because traffic funnels to a two-lane bridge, and raised concerns about potential accidents and upcoming Royal Palm Square redevelopment traffic. Rob Price said signage and lane guidance will steer drivers bound for MacGregor into the outside left lane and that the project is an interim improvement pending a longer-term left-turn flyover included in mid-point planning.
Votes: both contract awards passed unanimously. Commissioners said the projects are needed to address chronic congestion and safety issues at the named intersections.
