County Commissioner provides Lee County update to Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association
It’s going to take a while, but Burnt Store Road is going to be four-lanes (and eventually six-lanes) from Pine Island Road all the way to the county line.
That’s what Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman told members of the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association during their quarterly meeting Thursday at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School.
Hamman explained what he does as county commissioner, what exactly the county does, and talked about the issues that impact residents. He also talked about how the city has grown from when he was a kid.
“If you wanted to go somewhere to eat other than Wendy’s or Burger King, you were going over the bridge. Now, we have a Buffalo Wild Wings and I’m thrilled to see all the new businesses come here,” Hamman said.
Among Hamman’s roles is to bring more jobs, and not just new restaurants. He said lowering the millage rate, which the county did this past year, will spur growth.
He also helped bring credibility back to Lee County, which he said it had lost due to bad deals in the past that cost the county tons of money.
“The commissioners at that time invested $5 million into an energy drink company that never existed. They never built the plant or hired workers. They took the money,” Hamman said. “You replaced the commissioners and we replaced the county manager and the EDD and brought credibility back.”
Hamman said companies that build here and bring well-paying jobs to the area will earn a performance-based agreement from the county in the form of tax reimbursement.
Among the roads the county maintains is Del Prado, and there is a project that will connect Cape Coral with North Fort Myers when Kismet and Littleton are connected.
But the biggest is the $54 million Burnt Store Road project, which is currently expanding from two lanes to four. The first segment should be finished this summer, with the second starting immediately following and finally to Pine Island Road, which should be completed by 2020.
The expansion will include a bike/ped path, which is 10 feet wide and already laid down. The crosswalks go under the bridges so people won’t have to attempt to cross the busy road, Hamman said.
“Our plan after that is to finish the gap all the way to Charlotte County and to I-75. The long-range plan is to make it six lanes and make it into a super street,” Hamman said.
Also speaking at the meeting was Carl Cannady, a district resource coordinator with of the Cape Coral Police Department, who talked about the latest scams going around and how you can protect yourself from them, as well as those who may attempt to rob your home.
Susan Porreca of the Friends of Wildlife also spoke briefly about the burrowing owl (two of which she had in a cage on display) and the upcoming Burrowing Owl Festival, which is Feb. 25.
Newly-elected president John Bashaw also gave updates on active northwest Cape Coral projects, including the annual Trash Bash neighborhood cleanup to be held on Saturday, April 22, in conjunction with Keep Lee Beautiful, and the next Mangrove Mania mangrove planting project, the date and format of which has yet to be determined.