Lack of limited access highways (Tampa, Cape Coral: construction, live, club)

[centralfloridaroadgeek]

I'm just curious on why Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples area only has one limited access highway (I-75) considering the fact that Lee County and Collier County combines for a population of 1 million people.

[NoSnow4me]

Veterans Parkway through Cape Coral is limited access. I agree that we could use more of them in the area. Traffic isn't horrific around here, but it isn't exactly smooth sailing through most areas either.

[LifeIsGood01]

What makes a limited access highway?

[jwolfer]

When the interstate system was planned in the 1950s interstate 75 ended in Tampa Bay area... there was not much in SW FL. Lee County population was 23,000, the entire state was under 3 million total population. US 41 was able to handle traffic.

I 75 was not extended until the 1970s and 80s.

A lot of places in Florida are lacking freeways when you compare to other states like NC, PA, MD or CT.

Florida had almost all the major US Highways as 4 lanes divided by the 1950s. If you drive US 19/98 north of Crystal River it gives a feel of what much of SW Florida was like with respect to freeways.

[centralfloridaroadgeek]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

What makes a limited access highway?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cont...access_highway

[LifeIsGood01]

It's just the way the towns were set up. They must have never anticipated a large population or would have built a freeway thru the town like 1-85 on the east coast of Florida. When I lived in Broward county I used I95 all the time to get from one town or side of town to another because you hop on and the average speed was 75. We also had Federal Highway, which is Route 1, but that was not a road with lights and stores and uturn lanes and a speed limit of 45.

[egrabow440]

Originally Posted by NoSnow4me

Veterans Parkway through Cape Coral is limited access.

A single interchange at Del Prado does not an expressway make. Although I agree that Colonial/Veterans between Summerlin and Country Club Blvd is the closest thing we have to a local expressway (limited access highway). In the 80s, I believe, planners wanted to give Fort Myers - Cape Coral a proper beltway using Colonial Blvd and what became Veterans Parkway. The NIMBYs rose up and killed it.

With all of Lee County's growth since then, our lack of highways has become very conspicuous. Cape Coral is the most populous city in the United States not to have an expressway within its borders. Fort Myers - Naples is the second largest metro not to be served by a single local expressway. (West Palm Beach is the largest. Albuquerque was recently on the list too, but they've finally built one.)

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any highway proposals gaining traction right now. All the DOT does is add more lanes, more traffic lights, and on a good day we get a flyover. Oh yeah, and more traffic lights. The retirees oppose almost every construction project... they moved down here to die, not to watch other people live.