Future developments cause new Colonial congestion concerns

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Traffic on Colonial near I-75 has become more and more congested on the eastbound and westbound lanes, and FDOT officials said it will likely stay this way until the Colonial Blvd diverging diamond interchange project is completed in 2024. 

“While the traffic volume are expected to increase as we grow in population, these two types of interchange intersection will do a bunch of better job of funneling through that volume. We’re trying to not only reduce traffic congestion, travel times, but these interchange are also a safer option too, so we should also be improving safety as well,” said Brian Bollas with FDOT. 

People living down Six Mile Cypress and Colonial Blvd blame the traffic on new apartments being built nearby, the FDOT project, and construction where the new TopGolf is set to open this fall. 

“It’s so busy, especially Colonial. It’s already busy right now and I don’t know how it’s going to be after TopGolf,” said owner of Cafe Flore, Fatih Pala. 

“It’s like snowbird season all year long. When you come off the highway to turn to six mile you’re waiting three lights to turn. It takes me probably about 15 minutes, just to get off the highway. We already have a lot of traffic, so now it’s really gonna back it up,” said resident Teresa White. 

Last year, Colonial Blvd on either side of I-75 had about 75,000 cars a day, but according to FDOT that number is expected to go up. 

“We would expect those numbers to return back to the pre-pandemic levels soon, which were close to 80,000-85,000 cars a day,” said Bollas. 

Topgolf officials released this statement: 

The development is executed in such a way that we’re confident in the surrounding road network to enable guests to safely and conveniently access our location. We prefer high traffic areas and trust that the FDOT I-75 / Colonial Boulevard project will further enhance traffic flow in the surrounding area.  

Currently we are slated for a late 2021 opening.

Most of the work for the Colonial Blvd project is planned for overnight to alleviate traffic during rush hour times.    

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