FORT MYERS, FLA. \u2014 Drivers on Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers are starting to encounter construction and congestion due to a major reconstruction project at the I-75 interchange. This project is expected to test patience before delivering improvements.<\/p>\n
WINK News reporter Bridget Bruchalski was at the scene and spoke to drivers about their experiences.<\/p>\n
Mackenzie Reinert, a local of Fort Myers, expressed her frustrations with the ongoing work.<\/p>\n
“They have the giant trucks, and it’s always like, 10 guys halfway, maybe in the road a little bit. I thought one was gonna cut me off when I pulled into the gas station,” said Reinert.<\/p>\n
Construction has just started, and Reinert is already feeling the impact.<\/p>\n
“It’s kind of terrible,” said Reinert. “Everybody’s either speeding or going way too slow.”<\/p>\n
Reinert also mentioned the challenges at the highway entrance when heading south to Naples, noting it’s often backed up.<\/p>\n
“It’s kind of terrible. The cones that way, they’re like, halfway in the lane on the left,” Reinert said.<\/p>\n
The construction aims to introduce a diverging diamond intersection, a design that briefly shifts traffic to the left to keep cars moving and reduce backups. Crews have also begun clearing trees as part of the preparation work.<\/p>\n
Tony Essian, a Fort Myers snowbird, shared his perspective on the construction.<\/p>\n
“You know, it’s just construction. But in Florida, it’s a little bit different, because you have more lanes,” said Essian.<\/p>\n
Essian emphasized the importance of patience during this period.<\/p>\n
“What normally takes 20 minutes will take 45 minutes,” said Essian. “We’re already planning alternate routes, but if you keep up with things, you can manage it.”<\/p>\n
He hopes the project will ultimately be beneficial.<\/p>\n
“There’s a trade-off to everything, right? And so we have to put up with it a little bit, but it’ll be easier later on. And I’m sure it’ll help the area,” Essian said.<\/p>\n
Reinert has seen the benefits of a diverging diamond intersection before and is optimistic about the outcome.<\/p>\n
“Once you get used to it, it’s a little bit more efficient,” said Reinert. “The traffic was horrible already, so the Forum seems to be moving a little bit better.”<\/p>\n
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) stated that most disruptions are expected to occur overnight, with lane closures between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Construction will also pause around nearby spring training games. The entire project is expected to take about two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, FLA. \u2014 Drivers on Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers are starting to encounter construction and congestion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,1126],"class_list":["post-108020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-florida-department-of-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}