LEE COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, Fox 4 learned it may not be until this summer before the rest of the Lee County traffic signals damaged by Hurricane Ian are back to normal.
Drivers in Lee County said how you navigate through post-Ian traffic lights depends on who's behind the steering wheel.
“At any intersection, you have to look both ways once, twice, or 15 times just so you don't cause an accident or get into an accident,” said one driver.
The same story for others who rely on an electric scooter to get around.
“To be honest it’s kinda hectic none of the crosswalks are working they don't have proper lights the stop signs are a major thing, man,” said one man as he rode his scooter through Lee County.
Hurricane Ian left 90% of Lee County’s signals damaged after the storm.
On Tuesday, more than 5 months later, county officials say 50% of the county’s signals that sustained less than $5,000 worth of damage have been fixed.
Rob Price, Lee County's Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation said there are 132 of those intersections in Lee County.
“So we are around the 67 or 68 signal mark now and by the end of May we must have the rest of the 132 signals fixed,” said Price.
It's a lengthy process that must go through state and federal approval.
“It's a lengthy process. We (Lee County) made our first submittal to the state about one month ago and we got a bunch of comments back from FDOT so we are in the process of addressing those comments," said Price.
A process that Price said will grant Lee county, state, and federal approval.
Price told Fox 4 that federal funding will pay for around 80% of the cost of the remaining traffic signals costing more than $5,000 to fix.
“To get the signal system back functioning efficiently like people are used to, we are going to be looking at sometime this summer,” said Price.
A long road county leaders are hopeful will continue to improve road conditions for anyone.
“I'm surprised it's taken so long — I have to be extra careful,” said one driver.
Price asked residents to be patient.
“You know it's season right now so, patience is a virtue but other than that, it's pretty good,” said another driver.
