{"id":110941,"date":"2026-01-08T21:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/110941\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T21:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:50:06","slug":"alva-families-fear-road-collapse-after-utility-work-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/110941\/","title":{"rendered":"Alva families fear road collapse after utility work | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALVA &#8211; Residents in an Alva neighborhood say utility construction work damaged the only road leading to their homes, and months later, they\u2019re still waiting for a permanent fix as the roadway continues to sink.<\/p>\n<p>Nicole Walker says the problem began in August, when contractors working on behalf of MasTec performed underground work near a canal to install data lines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring that process, they actually burrowed out a lot of the foundation for our culvert area,\u201d Walker said. \u201cNow our ground is starting to slowly erode.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"IMG_2619.jpeg\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"1662\" height=\"1247\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Walker says she noticed the roadway sinking shortly after the work was completed. She provided photos showing the progression of the damage, including a growing pothole and sagging asphalt.<\/p>\n<p>She says MasTec approved repair efforts, but those fixes didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey did a patch, and instantly the patch started to fail,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThey came back, dumped more asphalt in the hole, and it instantly started sinking even more that same day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walker\u2019s neighbor, Elida Olivares, says the damage has created a serious safety concern for families who rely on the road every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter\u2019s right here in fear because we don\u2019t know when it might collapse,\u201d Olivares said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very serious situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both women say the road is the only access to their properties and is used regularly by family members, visitors, and service vehicles. They also say the sinking roadway has made it difficult and dangerous to move horse trailers and RVs on and off the property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the only way on and off our property,\u201d Walker said. \u201cWe have horses, kids on ATVs and bikes. It\u2019s very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They say one of their biggest concerns is whether emergency vehicles would be able to safely reach their homes if needed.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"IMG_2620.jpeg\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"1662\" height=\"1247\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we need access to emergency services, I don\u2019t see them trying to cross this,\u201d Walker said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to WINK News, Lee County said the access road and the canal near the property are not county-maintained.<\/p>\n<p>Meaning the county is not responsible for making repairs. WINK News reached out to MasTec through emails and a phone call regarding the homeowners\u2019 concerns. We are still waiting to hear back.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Walker and Olivares say they\u2019re not asking for anything beyond a permanent solution that restores the road to its previous condition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just want it fixed before someone gets hurt,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALVA &#8211; Residents in an Alva neighborhood say utility construction work damaged the only road leading to their&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[56542,209,211,210,356],"class_list":{"0":"post-110941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-alva","9":"tag-cape-coral","10":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","11":"tag-cape-coral-news","12":"tag-lee-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110941","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=110941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}