CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Wednesday marked day two of traffic tie-ups on Santa Barbara Boulevard in Cape Coral.
“It was about a whole two miles of just straight traffic, bumper to bumper…just leading up to right here…it was really bad,” says Maddy Boddy, a Cape resident.
“Nicholas (Parkway), and now Santa Barbara, it’s kind of frustrating," adds another resident.
Frustrating is how many Cape Coral drivers described navigating Santa Barbara Boulevard so far this week.
With Nicholas Parkway closed due to construction - it left many scrambling to find their way around.
“Traffic’s backed up, I just came from Veterans. So turning onto Santa Barbara is a nightmare,” says a Cape resident.
After the city announced the project, Fox 4 previewed the expected road closures last Friday before they went into place.
And we were live showing you the nightmare in real time on Monday.
But some drivers we spoke to say they still wish there would have been more notice.
“There was no notice whatsoever about it, we just came out of the neighborhood and bam it was all there,” said Boddy.
So we went to the city of Cape Coral for a second night in a row, looking for answers.
“We’re a growing city, we have a lot of traffic; you close down a major road at certain points… it’s just a headache,” said City Councilman Tom Hayden, representative for District 3.
The purpose behind the traffic paralysis is a waterline expansion.
Councilman Hayden says is needs to happen now.
“We have to get this waterline in. At the intersection of Santa Barbara and Nicholas, it’s important; they have to do the work now, get it done, it’s needed as we continue the waterline expansion. Hopefully they’ll finish by a week from Friday, get this done, so in the meantime residents I implore them to be patient.”
But patience isn't what residents wanted to hear.
“I think there should have been more of a notice. I think there should have been more signs too,” said Boddy.
