| Coconut Road interchange talk would likely end if Estero development OK'd A controversial interstate interchange proposal could die if an Estero development is approved. Yet, Douglas said he was not concerned about a potential traffic increase. The city of Bonita Springs, which had argued for an interchange in the past to alleviate traffic from Bonita Beach Road, is not taking a position. Friday morning, Ned Dewhirst, Oakbrook Properties senior vice president, said he plans to ask for a zoning modification next month, which would take 10 months to one year. Given the current economy, development of the property is unknown. "We hope that it will be in a five-year window," Dewhirst said. " Don Eslick, chairman of the Estero Council of Community Leaders, told the crowd of about 40 people at Friday's meeting, that the Lee County's Metropolitan Planning Organization has removed the need for a Coconut Road interchange from its 2030 Long-Range Transportation Plan. The proposed road project made national news seven years ago after a $10 million earmark thanks to a congressman from Alaska. Rep. There is no current traffic data that supports the need for an intersection at Coconut Road, he added. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah doesn't support an interchange at Coconut Road and has fought to keep the interchange out of the group's long-range transportation plans. In April 2006, Eslick said, he believes Lee County leaders were taken in by special interests and the lure of $10 million. Oakbrook Properties, the developers of Coconut Point mall, wants to add 200 to 250 single- and multifamily homes to their 38-acre "martini glass" property between Copperleaf and Lighthouse Bay at The Brooks on Coconut Road, which is east of Three Oaks Parkway and west of I-75. To do that, Oakbrook Properties needs Lee County to remove a provision to reserve a right of way to your house so that a flyover or intersection at Coconut Road and I-75 could be constructed. Paton, who lives at the Reserve at Estero, said the flyover at Three Oaks and Estero parkways has eliminated a great deal of traffic near his neighborhood. "I think they need to look at the need," Paton said. Only one Estero resident opposed the elimination of a flyover. The Coconut Road earmark appeared in the 2005 bill after Young attended a fundraiser in Estero. In 2005, when $10 million were earmarked to study the I-75 interchange at Coconut Road, it became a controversy that reached national news. Once the property is developed, Dewhirst said, the traffic increase would be "insignificant. The event was hosted by landowner Daniel Aronoff, who owns Edison Farms which consists of 1,000 acres east of the proposed interchange. Then in 2008, after leaders from Collier and Lee counties could not agree on how to spend $10 million, the Florida Department of Transportation made the decision for them to improve both the Bonita Beach Road and Immokalee Road interchanges on Interstate 75. "This discussion is up to the county commissioners because they are the ones which will end up having to pay for it. " Many residents can make an argument that someday an interchange on the interstate will be necessary between Corkscrew and Bonita Beach roads, Nelson said. They worried environmentally sensitive land to the east of the interstate would turn into housing developments and urban sprawl. "Although our City Council has not taken a position one way or the other, mainly because we've already fought that battle enough, I don't feel that the County Commission is supportive of putting it in the long-range plan," said Bonita Springs Mayor Ben Nelson. By eliminating the addition of a flyover, residents may end up with a "bottleneck," Ed Paton told the group. Coconut Road interchange talk would likely end if Estero development OK'd |
Monday 12 March 2012
Coconut Road interchange talk would likely end if Estero development OK'd
