Trafficgeddon: Today promises to be a challenging day on the roads in Fort Myers

Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read
Traffic scenes on I-75 on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 morning.
Traffic scenes on I-75 on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 morning.

Can the traffic mess in Lee County get any worse than it already is? Is that possible?

Yes. It can.

The second of two "red flag" traffic days for March is upon us. At the beginning of the month Lee County issued a press release to alert residetents and tourists that two days on the calendar have the potential to cause significant logjams in central Fort Myers along the Daniels Parkways cooridor.

Fans file into JetBlue Park before the MLB spring training matchup between the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.Today marked the first full-capacity spring training game in SWFL since the pandemic in 2022.
Fans file into JetBlue Park before the MLB spring training matchup between the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.Today marked the first full-capacity spring training game in SWFL since the pandemic in 2022.

Friday (March 17) is the second time this spring training season that the Boston Red Sox, who play at JetBlue Park, and the Minnesota Twins, who play at Lee County Sports Complex, will have home games at the same time. It also happens to be St. Patrick's Day.

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The Red Sox are scheduled to play the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 p.m. The Twins will play host to the Baltimore Orioles, also at 1:05 p.m. The St. Patrick's Day games in spring training tradiitionally sell out or come close to a sell out. JetBlue Park's seating capcity is 10,823. Hammond Stadium at the Lee County Sports Complex can hold 9,300.

Needless to say, that means a lot of extra vehicles will be traveling up and down Daniels Parkways and adjoining roads like U.S. 41, Six Mile Cypress Parkway and on and off ramps to Interstate 75.

Hammond Stadium, winter home of the Minnesota Twins, seen during a 2019 spring training game. Part of the boardwalk at the complex will be closed during this season's 17-game schedule due to some structural problems that have developed
Hammond Stadium, winter home of the Minnesota Twins, seen during a 2019 spring training game. Part of the boardwalk at the complex will be closed during this season's 17-game schedule due to some structural problems that have developed

After Friday's games, the Red Sox have six home games remaining and the Twins will play five games in Fort Myers.

Lee County had this to say in its release when it comes to Friday's traffic challenge:

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The Florida Department of Transportation Traffic Operations Center has special programming for traffic-signal timing to help keep vehicles moving on March 17 and all spring training game days.

The county’s traffic specialists also coordinate with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the baseball teams.

Plan accordingly. Gates for parking open two hours before the first pitch.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers spring training: Expect high traffic volume on March 17