NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla — North Fort Myers neighbors told Fox 4 that rush hour traffic is getting out of hand on Old-41. They believe ongoing construction there is to blame, and they want to see it completed.
Fox 4’s North Fort Myers Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski first reported in this area back in July, when construction delays then had neighbors concerned.
He went back four months later, when neighbors again reached out to the Fox 4 newsroom for answers.
Watch to hear what neighbors told Austin and what FDOT said about the project:
Since July, the stretch between the Edison Bridge and Bayshore Road has been repaved, raised medians have been installed and new turn lanes were added. Those renovations are part of an FDOT project to improve road safety.
Despite that, homeowners told Fox 4 that rush hour traffic has become dangerous there.
“Rush hour… it’s terrible,” one neighbor said.
“I’ve seen accidents down here that plug it up even more. It’s just constant traffic, constant construction,” Lea Norman added.
Norman said all the congestion adds an extra hour to her commute.
“I’m hoping they resolve it soon. That way it can at least clear up some of the traffic, because if it’s not this bridge it’s the other bridge,” she said.
According to FDOT, the project is now in phase two. That phase reopened the inside lanes and closed the outside lanes so crews can keep working along the shoulders.
FDOT said workers finished underground drainage work, installed new curbing, and are now focusing on sidewalks, lighting, and new pedestrian crossings.
Much of the work is being done at night to ease traffic impacts, and FDOT said early snowbird traffic is also contributing to the backups.
The agency says the project is still on track for a late 2025 or early 2026 finish.
