The Sun Bay Paper Page 6 One of the first impressions we get when we first arrive to Fort Myers Beach is the incredible view as we travel over the Matanzas Pass Bridge, I remember my first visit, it was very early in the morning, just after 6am and the sky was all lit up on the eastern side of the bridge on my left as I was driving up the bridge ramp, I stopped and pulled over at the top and got out to take it all in, it must have been a half hour before I returned to my car and proceeded down the other side… these days, that is the best time of day to go to the beach as the traffic can be backed up as soon as 9am. A plan to hopefully change the landscape leading to the Matanzas and Hurricane Pass bridges to relieve some of that traffic is in the works. The Florida Department of Transportation, District One, has prepared the design of improvements along San Carlos Boulevard from Crescent Street on Estero Island, to just north of Buttonwood and past Hurricane Bay Bridge on San Carlos Blvd. Last Thursday, the Fort Myers Beach Town Council heard the results of an environmental study looking at the impact of the proposed changes to the bridge. At the meeting, town council heard the department’s plans to modify the existing bicycle and bus lanes on Matanzas bridge into a general purpose lane and expand existing sidewalks on the east side of the bridge. The department is also evaluating a potential option to expand the bridge via a cantilever that would allow the state to expand the bridge for pedestrian traffic, but has not received the go ahead for that yet. The proposals have raised some concerns…. This view (above right) is of one of the proposed changes to Matanzas bridge, seen here with 2 lanes coming onto the beach, you’ll notice the trolley bus/bicycle lane is gone creating the probability of a bottleneck happening all day long at the base of the bridge as only some of the traffic coming onto the beach will want to turn north towards Lynn Hall Park/Bowditch Point. Another possible concern is the additional weight that a second lane of bumper-to-bumper cars sitting in traffic on the bridge would create. And still another is that these plans were drawn up in 2018, and well... much has changed since then. The project is still in the planning phase, and the Department of Transportation wants to hear your opinions about the project. You will have an opportunity to see and say more at a public hearing that will be held on the Matanzas Pass Bridge project on Thursday, Feb. 3 by the Florida Department of Transportation. It will be held at Chapel by the Sea on 100 Chapel St. Presbyterian Church on Fort Myers Beach from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Matanzas Pass Bridge Project: Public Hearing February 3rd January 21, 2022 - January 27, 2022
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