The Lee County Board of Commissioners voted to approve grants Tuesday for Caloosahatchee-based water projects, gave the nod to a contract to design drainage improvements in Fort Myers Shores, Russell Park and Iona and approved an agreement to add turn lanes and a traffic signal at Lee Boulevard and Leonard Boulevard in Lehigh Acres.
The two water-quality projects approved will allow the county to construct projects to improve water quality flowing to the Caloosahatchee.
Through two interlocal agreements with the South Florida Water Management District, Commissioners voted to accept:
- $2.5 million in grant funds for the construction of a creek-diversion system with a shallow open-water wetland treatment area at Bob Janes Preserve, which is located north of North River Road in Alva.
The project is designed to restore the Bob Janes Preserve property to a more productive, native ecosystem while providing water-quality benefits for the Caloosahatchee River.
$1.5 million in grant funds to construct the Palm Creek Filter Marsh Project within Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve East, which is south of Bayshore Road and east of Interstate 75.
The project will include a series of ponds and a wetland network to assist with the treatment of surface water for nutrient removal and related water-quality improvements.
The Caloosahatchee has a total maximum daily load for total nitrogen and is subject to a State of Florida Basin Management Action Plan.
The South Florida Water Management District received the grant dollars from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The grant funding will pay for the construction costs. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2026 and be complete in summer 2027.
Drainage improvements
The Commissioners continued a commitment to flood mitigation and infrastructure improvements with a vote to award a contract to design drainage improvements in Fort Myers Shores, Russell Park and Iona.
The vote awards a nearly $1.1 million contract to Johnson Engineering LLC for design services for countywide drainage improvements.
The project includes surveying, design alternatives, permitting and preparation of construction plans for drainage improvements in and around Fort Myers Shores in eastern Lee County, Russell Park east of Fort Myers and Iona, southwest of Fort Myers.
The drainage systems in these areas consist of aging infrastructure. Conditions were further degraded by storm surge from Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Lee County on Sept. 28, 2022, as a strong Category 4 storm.
Johnson Engineering will evaluate the existing system and propose improvements throughout each drainage basin to existing outfalls within the Caloosahatchee River.
The funding is through the Community Development Block Grant-DR (CDBG-DR) program related to Hurricane Ian.
Lee County maintains drainage infrastructure throughout the community, which include:
- Natural systems - clean and snag creeks, streams and rivers.
- Manmade systems - ditches, culverts, canals, weirs, gate operations
To learn more about Lee County’s flood mitigation plan and the different types of flooding experienced in the community, go to leegov.com/flooding. To learn more about CDBG-DR infrastructure projects for Hurricane Ian mitigation, click here or visit https://ian-cdbgdr.leegov.com.
Adding turn lanes and a traffic signal
Commissioners voted to approve an agreement with a developer that will allow additional turn lanes to be constructed and a traffic signal to be added at the intersection of Lee Boulevard and Leonard Boulevard North in Lehigh Acres.
The turn lanes will allow safe access to the planned commercial development at the site. Timing of the construction of the turn lanes is tied to the development plans.
The developer, Lee Blvd Investments LLC, will be responsible for the cost of the three westbound right turn lanes on Lee Boulevard into the development, the expansion/reconstruction of the eastbound left turn lane into the development at the Leonard Boulevard signalized access, and the expansion of the eastbound left turn lane at the project’s north-south road.
Lee County will be responsible for the costs of the westbound left turn lane on Lee Boulevard at signalized Leonard Boulevard, closing the existing eastbound left turn lane into the site, closing the eastbound left turn lane on Lee Boulevard for east access, expansion of westbound left turn lane at the north-south road and intersection improvements on the northbound approach along Leonard Boulevard.
Lee Blvd Investments LLC will donate one-half of the cost of the traffic signals, plans, signalized intersection design (except those paid by Lee County) and permitting of all improvements of Lee Boulevard. The county will be responsible for the cost of the design and one-half of the cost of the traffic signal.
Florida Statutes Section 336.71 allows the county the ability to enter into a public-private cooperation agreement for the construction of county roads. The access management improvements on Lee Boulevard within the vicinity of the development are identified safety improvements by the Department of Transportation, and therefore county funds may be used. This proposed county road construction project meets all of the statutory criteria, specifically it:
- Is in the best interest of the public.
- Would use county funds only for portions of the project that will be part of the county road system.
- Would have adequate safeguards to ensure that additional costs or unreasonable service disruptions are not realized by the traveling public and citizens of the state.
- Upon completion, would be a part of the county road system owned by the county.
- Would result in a financial benefit to the public by completing the subject project at a cost to the public significantly lower than if the project were constructed by the county using the normal procurement process.
The board’s vote came at the conclusion of a public hearing during the regularly scheduled meeting.
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