FORT MYERS--People who work on Six Mile Cypress Parkway say, it's not just racing, but overall speeding that's the issue.
"Oh my God," said Laura Herndon as she watched a video of a car speeding past another this weekend. The car goes as far as driving on the median to get ahead. She's worked on Six Mile Cypress and Winkler Avenue for 18 years and has seen a lot of speeding, but nothing like this.
When Herndon's coworker Linda Smuder saw the video she said, "See that's some of the drag racing behavior. You can see it." Smuder said she's heard about people racing in the area after dark.
"It's dangerous. I think you take your life into your own hands when you go on here," she said. "People do speed on here a lot, but it happens more often than it should. And there are patrols out here, but they can't be here 24-7."
But Smuder said even with all of the patrols, it's not making a big enough difference.
Herndon is working to do something about the speeding.
"We've got to get a [traffic] light!" She said.
Herndon said exiting the parking lot where she works is dangerous.
"We're afraid to leave. We really are. I am! I wait everyday."
Right around 5:00 every evening there's a long line to safely get out of the parking lot. People wait for the speeders to pass so they can get out in one piece. Herndon waits for the line to go down and the traffic to subside before she takes off for the day.
Last month she reached out to the Lee County Department of Transportation (DOT) requesting a stop light on the corner of Wrinkler and Six Mile Cypress. The DOT responded saying they've monitored the crashes in the area, but there's not a high enough number of crashes that would be corrected by a stop light.
The DOT did point out that with all of the new buildings going up in the area, a traffic light is possible. But they have to survey the area first to see if it meets the county's minimum requirements. If it does, Fort Myers would have to pay for it.
