A vision for the Bonita Beach Rd. corridor begins taking shape

The Feb. 25th public workshop on the Bonita Beach Road Visioning Project was well attended and well received.  Toole Design's Ian Lockwood's presented a design vision for Bonita Beach Road, reflecting input from the various meetings over the past month with residents of Bonita and many stakeholder groups. The vision for this corridor is a complete streets approach, complete with roundabouts, separated bike lanes, sidewalks, lane width reductions, more interconnectivity of local streets, and attractive landscaping throughout. The video of the workshop is now available on the City's website.  Click here.  Kudos to the Toole Design team for their outstanding work with the community, and thanks to the many Bonita residents who participated in this process.  Next step--Toole Design team presents the proposed design vision for the corridor to the Bonita Springs City Council sometime this Spring.  We'll let you know when that presentation has been scheduled.

Ian Lockwood (R) responds to Q from citizen: 2/25 workshop

Background 
In the Fall, the City of Bonita Springs contracted with Toole Design Group to create a vision for the Bonita Beach Rd. corridor and its major north/south intersections.The Toole Design project team is led by Ian Lockwood, a recognized national leader in sustainable transportation policy and urban design. 

The first series of public workshops were held Jan. 26th-28th. Click here to see Toole Design's excellent PowerPoint presentation about the BBR visioning project, which was presented at the Jan. 28th workshop.  The Jan. visit was to learn what challenges and opportunities there were, develop “starter ideas”, and get feedback on the starter ideas.The Toole Design team was back in town the week of Feb. 22nd for their final working sessions. On Feb. 25th the held a public workshop to present the draft proposal and recommendations that they plan to submit to the City Council in the next month or so.

If you missed the Feb. 25th meeting, here's a link to the video of the Feb. 25th.BBR Visioning Public Workshop.The City of Bonita Springs is still taking public comments, questions and concerns, which should be sent to Arleen Hunter.

PP presentation at Jan. 28th workshop

The goal of the project is to develop "an imaginative and unique vision for Bonita Beach Road" (east of I-75 and west to Hickory Blvd.) and all its major north/south intersections. The proposed vision is to follow the city's Complete Streets policy and use a context-sensitive approach, "using the latest and best management practices that connect land use and transportation needs for all users, including connectivity to adjacent streets, while remaining flexible to the unique circumstances of different streets. This vision and subsequent design of the Bonita Beach Road corridor would act as the foundation for a comprehensive, connected and well-maintained multi-modal network. It is envisioned that these efforts would lead to a revitalization of commercial development, office development and residential development of varying intensities and densities." (Source: RFP scope of work)

Note that Bonita Beach Rd. is a Lee County road and FDOT controls the US41/Bonita Beach Rd. interchange, so both parties will be involved in this project and will be critical to implementation of the project's outcome.

BikeWalkLee is excited to see Bonita Springs moving forward with the Bonita Beach Rd. visioning study that the City Council set in motion a year ago. This project, along with several other initiatives, including the major downtown redevelopment project now underway, are bringing complete streets and livable communities to life in SWFL.

Report by Darla Letourneau 

Video of Feb. 25th Public Workshop on BBR Vision, presentation by Toole Design team

Toole Design's PowerPoint presentation at the Jan. 28th workshop

Related BikeWalkLee Blogs: 

• February 20, 2016: Reminder: Feb. 25th public workshop--Bonita Beach Road Visioning Project 

• January 22, 2016: Invite to Jan. 25th and 28th Bonita Beach Road Visioning Public Workshops

• August 5, 2015: Bonita Springs City Council selects consultant team for Bonita Beach Rd. visioning study