Part 4 of report: New & improved bike/ped facilities--City of Fort Myers

This week BikeWalkLee released a comprehensive report on new and improved bike/ped facilities throughout Lee County.  The first part was an overview of the entire county. In this part (Blog post #4) the report focuses on the City of Fort Myers.  Click here to read the full report.

CITY OF FORT MYERS

Exhibit  from Lee MPO Countywide Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan, adopted May 2011 (2010 data )

Note:  bike/ped facilities are shown in linear miles vs. lane miles and only include arterial and collectors.

New and improved bike/ped facilities on all public roadways in Fort Myers: 2011-13

(in lane miles, i.e., both sides of bike lanes and sidewalks are counted)

Year	New Wayfinding (2 sides)	Conver. to bike lanes (2 sides)	New on-road bike facil . (2 sides )	New shared use paths	New sidewalks (both sides counted)	Improved bike/ped (e.g. widened)
2011					*
2012					3.5
2011 & 2012 actual					3.5
2013 planned			10.0	0.3	12.7
3 yr total			10.0	0.3	16.2

*projects reported in 2011 were actually constructed in 2012

Projects completed in 2012:  
New sidewalks (total of 3.5 lane miles of new sidewalks)

• Challenger Blvd. sidewalk connection (Challenger Blvd. to Winkler) (0.2 lane miles) (2 sides)
• Henderson sidewalk replacement (Henderson Ave. by MLK Blvd) Cranford Avenue sidewalk (Cranford Avenue. between Edison & Lafayette) (0.2 lane miles) (2 sides)
• Veronica Shoemaker Blvd. sidewalk (VSM from MLK Blvd. to Michigan Ave.) (1.0 lane mile) (2 sides)

• Polk Ave. sidewalk(Polk Avenue from Palm Beach to Marion) (1.0 lane miles) (2 sides) 
• Tarpon Street sidewalk (tarpon from SR 82 to Edgewood Ave) (0.4 lane miles) (2 sides)

• Evans Ave. (SR 739)/ Hanson Street ), five-foot sidewalk and safety handrail on Evans Avenue (.002 lane miles) (2 sides) – completed April 2011 (FDOT project)
• Michigan Ave. (from Michigan Avenue Link to east of Clotilde Avenue),  five-foot sidewalk  (2 sides) (0.7 lane miles) and roadway striping for school zone and crosswalks – completed December 2011 (FDOT project)  
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• Safety improvements:  In March 2012, the City Council reduced the speed limit on city streets to 25 mph.  This is making the city's streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.  Check BikeWalkLee's March 3rd blog post about this development.  

Projects to be completed in 2013:

• SR 82,  6.6 lane miles of new sidewalk (2 sides) of SR 82 from Ortiz Avenue to Lee/Colonial Boulevard and 6.6 lane miles of designated bike lanes  – part of City of Fort Myers’ project to six-lane SR 82 expected to finish in fall 2012 (FDOT project)

• Palm Beach Blvd:  10-foot pathways (0.2 miles) and 0.4 lane miles of new paved shoulders on Palm Beach Boulevard at the I-75 interchange – part of six-lane interstate construction from Luckett Road to Palm Beach Boulevard (SR 80) and improvements to the SR 80 interchange (FDOT project)

•  New Metro Parkway project (Metro Fowler Crossover):  3 lane miles of new five and six-foot sidewalks (2 sides) and 3 lane miles of new four-foot designated bike lane on Metro Parkway from Winkler Avenue to Hanson Street.  In addition, improvements to crosswalks at Metro/Winkler Avenue, Metro/Hardee Street, Metro/Hanson Street, and Metro/Fowler Avenue intersections – preliminary work may start before the end of 2012. Also includes approximately 0.08 mile shared use path on south side of Hardee Street from old Metro to New Metro. (FDOT project)

•  Stand-alone sidewalk projects underway  (total of  2.72 lane miles of new sidewalks)

·          Thomas Ave. sidewalk (Thomas St. from Henderson to Highland) (0.48 lane miles) (2 sides)

·         Fountain Avenue sidewalk (Fountain St MLK to Thomas St.) (0.48 lane miles) (2 sides)

·         Veronica Shoemaker Blvd sidewalk (Phase II)(VSMB from Michigan to Marion)  (1.0 lane miles) (2 sides)

·         Marion Ave. sidewalk (Marion Avenue. Between Terry & SR80) (0.6 lane miles) (2 sides)

·         Lynneda Avenue (from Glenwood Avenue to Pelham Street) five-foot sidewalk on the west side near Tice Elementary School (0.16 miles) (1 side) – completion expected by end of 2012 (FDOT project)