Lee County Commissioners approved a plan earlier this year to replace and expand both sides of the Cape Coral Bridge to address capacity and bridge safety deficiencies. An informational update on the project was presented Tuesday at the Cape Coral Community Redevelopment Agency meeting.
The Cape Coral Bridge opened in 1964 with two lanes and served as the only direct link between Cape Coral and Fort Myers. As it stands today, it is a principal arterial, four-lane bridge that provides east to west connectivity to Cape Coral Parkway and College Parkway across the Caloosahatchee River.
Maintained by Lee County, the bridge is a county project that is up for replacement in 2027, Cape Coral Interim Public Works Director Persides Zambrano said.
“They started the process to redesign the bridge, and they realized rather than just replace the westbound, the one coming into the Cape, which is the oldest one, and keeping the old one, the one that goes to Fort Myers in place, they’re going to just redo the entire bridge,” Zambrano said.
The ambitious project has a price tag to match, with a preliminary estimate of $300 million, according to the project’s development and environment study. The project area is 2.1 miles, from Del Prado to McGregor boulevards.
The project proposal includes three options, two of which are build options and a no-build option.
Cape Coral Principal Transportation Planner Laura Dodd presented some changes to the project’s development and environmental study, including a lane repurposing at the Del Prado Boulevard and Cape Coral Parkway intersection to improve the level of service and reduce delays and the addition of a third lane in each direction east of Del Prado to increase capacity.
Due to right-of-way restraints, Dodd said widening is proposed to occur within the inside of the existing median, with the repurposing of the center left turn lane. “This is envisioned to enhance safety, and also the opposing traffic will be separated by a continuous concrete median barrier,” she said.
Another proposed change is an eastbound to westbound U-turn lane under the bridge and within Bernice Braden Park.
Dodd then presented five key elements of the proposed changes, with the first being Waikiki Avenue transitioning from a two-lane eastbound with a designated southbound right turn to a three-lane eastbound with a designated right turn.
Southeast 17th Avenue will then change to a one way southbound with on-street parking and eliminate the right turn off of Cape Coral Parkway.
“Additionally, three other items worth noting are these changes will require the relocation of the Veterans monument. It will include a continuous median, which limits turning movements up to the bridge and lastly, the U-turn movement has now been accommodated.”
Zambrano said the project has a big public information component, with there being a workshop last month and more to come.
“I’m expecting Lee County to eventually come before the [Cape Coral City] Council to present their findings,” she said.
The project is currently in the design phase and will likely stay that way for the next two years before its permitting phase. Zambrano said she expects ground to be broken within the next three to four years, at which point the project will take 48 months to complete.
“It’s a big undertaking,” Zambrano said. “That’s why they took this approach to replace both spans rather than just one. They’re going to have to keep that connection flowing while they’re building the new bridge.”
The design and phases of the project will keep the connection operational throughout the project, and upon completion it is expected to have a lifespan of 75 years.
