Traffic Week: Collier County's 9 road projects being worked on in 2024
Note to readers: The News-Press and Naples Daily News are producing a series of stories about traffic in Southwest Florida. We are calling our special coverage "Traffic Week" and today we are breaking down the most significant road projects for Collier County in 2024.
Collier County is working on designing and constructing several transportation engineering projects this year. With nine total projects, five are in the design process and four are going to start or continue construction this year.
Here are the details:
What projects are in the design phase this year?
Airport Road Widening Project (from Vanderbilt Beach Road to Immokalee Road)
Will widen Airport Road corridor into a six-lane divided urban arterial roadway
Adds additional travel lane in each direction and one-street bicycle facilities
Sidewalks along the road will be reconstructed on both sides
Design is anticipated to be completed by Spring 2025
Construction could begin as early as Summer 2026
Vanderbilt Drive Sidewalk Project (from Vanderbilt Beach Road to 109th Ave N)
Adding a five-foot concrete sidewalk on the east side of Vanderbilt Drive
Adding a pedestrian crosswalk and a Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon
Construction could begin late summer or early fall of 2024
16th Street NE Bridge Project (from Golden Gate Blvd to Randall Blvd)
Adds two foot travel lanes along the length of the project
Adds six-foot concrete sidewalk on the west side of the road
Adds new bridge over Golden Gate Main Canal with two 12-foot travel lanes (one in each direction)
New traffic signal at intersection of 16th St. NE and Randall Blvd
Goal is to improve safety and improve emergency response times within Golden Gate Estates
Vanderbilt Beach Road Widening Project (East of US 41 to East of Goodlette-Frank Road)
Expands Vanderbilt Beach Road from four to six lanes
Lane expansion will mainly occur in the existing median
Existing sidewalks will be maintained
Adding bike lanes
Construction could begin Summer 2024
Collier Blvd Widening Phase III
Widens Collier Blvd between City Gate Blvd N and Green Blvd from four lanes to six
Final project in a series of five to improve Collier Blvd
Adds bike lanes along Collier Blvd
Adds two shared use pathways along the west side of Collier Blvd and along the west side of 39th St SW
Removes existing bridge at 25th Ave SW and replaces it at 27th Ave SW
What projects are in the construction phase this year?
Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension (Collier Blvd to 16th St NE)
7-mile extension of the existing roadway
New six-lane divided roadway from east of Collier Blvd to Wilson Blvd, including bike lanes and a shared-use path
New two-lane undivided roadway from Wilson Blvd to 16th St NE (Plans allow for a future four-lane and ultimate six-lane roadway)
New bridges over Curry Canal, Corkscrew Canal, and Orange Tree Canal
New intersections with traffic signals at Wilson Blvd, 8th St NE, and 16th St NE
Construction timeline is three years from start date (Fall 2022)
Immokalee Complete Streets Project
Filling in sidewalk gaps
Create bicycle boulevards
Adding streetlighting
Improving bus stops
20 miles of concrete sidewalks
Logan Blvd Roundabout (North of Immokalee Road)
Adds a roundabout at Treeline Drive (Olde Cypress) to eliminate the four-way stop
County says construction will start when the private utilities in the area have been relocated for eight months
Eleven Bridge Replacement Projects (East of Immokalee-SR 29)
Replaces six bridges on Immokalee Road
Replaces one bridge on Countyline Road
Replaces four bridges on Oilwell Road
Many bridges are already close to being done
Construction on the final Immokalee bridge has begun and is expected to be done by May 2024
What projects have already been completed?
Whippoorwill Lane Extension
Four roundabouts
New traffic signal on Livingston Road at Marabella Lakes Drive
Ribbon-cutting ceremony occurred on Jan. 10, 2024
Golden Gate Pkwy at Santa Barbara Canal Bridge Replacement
New four-lane bridge (Two lanes on each side)
12-foot wide sidewalks on each side
Project began in October 2022 and finished at the end of 2023
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Collier County 2024 road projects include Collier Vanderbilt expansion