Johnson Engineering recently revealed the results of the 2024 traffic study conducted in Estero. Organized by Engage Estero, this event showed current and future traffic conditions for the village of Estero, as well as some proposed recommendations to improve traffic efficiency.
The event was held at the Estero Community Park and Recreation Center.
While the final study is still being drafted and is supposed to be finalized sometime in April, Johnson Engineering transportation engineer Leah Holmes and Estero Director of Public Works David Willems presented the preliminary findings.
“We kicked off the project in the beginning of 2024; that allowed us to collect that peak season traffic which you generally see in a February to March timeframe," Holmes said.
A main focus was current and future road conditions, extrapolated to 2034. They took data from current developments and population growth trends to see what the annual traffic growth rates would be. This led to the analyzing of Roadway Level of Service (LOS).
LOS is the efficiency of traffic flow. As roads get more congested, the LOS goes down from A to F.
“Looking at the level of service in the village of Estero roadways, you can see the general level of service is a B to C.” Holmes said. “And we did compare this to the previous study that was done, and they had observed lower volumes in 2017. So it shows that there really has been a lot of additional growth in this area.”
The roadways with the lowest LOS, with a C, were Broadway Avenue., Coconut Road, Via Coconut Point, Williams Road, and Via Veneto. The 2034 projection put the segment on Coconut Point to Three Oaks Parkway at service level F.
The study also analyzed crash data over the past five years, finding that Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway had the highest number of crashes at 179.
The event was open to public comment, and residents spoke about their personal concerns regarding traffic in Estero. Some people voiced concerns about more growth.
“Estero needs to slow down on development,” one resident said.
“How on Earth are we going to get out of our neighborhoods onto Coconut Road in the future?” another resident asked.
“I’m one of those unfortunate people that live on Three Oaks, and between 4:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. approximately, we cannot get in or out of our development,” another resident said.
For Allan Bowditch, the communications officer of Engage Estero, the comments were welcome.
“I think the village now has an even greater understanding from those questions about issues that they should be addressing,” Bowditch said.
Bowditch himself has had to consider the logistics of driving in Estero much more as time has passed.
“My driving within Estero has to be thought through carefully," he said. "I tend not to go in a northerly direction from my home in Shadow Wood anytime after 3:30."
Mark Novitzki attended the event. He writes articles for Engage Estero, and said he's hopeful that some real change comes from this study. He also said that some road improvement projects need to be speeded up.
“Some days when I’m going to work, I have to plan an extra 15 to 20 minutes,” Novitzki said. “Some of the roads for Corkscrew widening are in the 2030s and 2040s. Hopefully they can move those up.”
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