CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- There's enough traffic in Southwest Florida for 45 miles per hour to turn into 10 miles per hour. Bumper to bumper traffic becomes more common on the roads in season. But this year, many believe its gotten worse.
"A lot more traffic than in the past. We've been here 12 years and I've never seen it this bad," said Dana McAllister. It's been very, very busy. I've been here 20 years and I see the difference," said Norma Guttierez
And some feel driver courtesy has gone out the window. "You let people in and they just cut you off, its horrible," said McAllister.
But when it comes to how many people are driving over the bridges and paying the tolls, the numbers show more people want a piece of paradise. The numbers provided by LeeWay show nearly 29,000 more cars crossed the Sanibel, Cape Coral and Midpoint bridges in the first week of 2015 compared to 2011; an 8.8% increase. But get this, the numbers from the first week of 2016 show a 16,400 car increase over the same time last year, a 4.6 % increase in just one year !
"Even if you have a Sun Pass, it still doesn't help. Its very bad, its very congested," said McAllister. "If you go past 7:30 pm, that's it, you're in traffic," added Gutierrez.
Surprising numbers to those who call this vacation destination home. "People are discovering us. It's good to be in paradise," said Bill Lauman.
