Home › News › Local news
In the Know Lee County: When is it right to turn right?
More Local news 
Share and Enjoy 
Hi! I really appreciate your column. I have a couple of questions:
1. When you’re turning right from Matheson Avenue onto East Terry Street in Bonita, do you get into the turn lane before the turnoff into the condo complex (The Gardens) or after? I’ve almost been hit there twice by people not getting into the lane until after the condo turnoff, and they look at me as though I shouldn’t have been there yet either.
2. I understand there are soccer fields planned near Southern Pines. Do the high-tension wires present any danger to the kids who’ll be playing there?
3. Are there any plans of installing either a traffic light or four-way stop signs at the intersection of Morton Avenue and East Terry? From January to April, turning off Morton onto Terry is downright dangerous!
Thanks,
J.B.
Bonita Springs.
I took your questions to Bonita Springs Public Works Director Daryl Walk. Here are the answers, starting from the top:
The city has worked with representatives from The Gardens for a couple of years to come up with a solution to the confusion at the development’s entrance. However, so far an agreement hasn’t been reached. The City Council most recently discussed the stretch of road Nov. 20.
Negotiations with property owners in The Gardens are ongoing, but in the meantime Daryl says the turn lane is designed for those planning to make a right turn onto East Terry Street. That means, J.B., that you are correct when you move to the right before reaching the entrance to The Gardens.
As for the soccer fields, Daryl says the City Council discussed the issue of safety and the city staff asked Johnson Engineering to research it. The finding: that children playing soccer on fields beneath the wires would not be a health risk. After Googling around on my own, I found this information from the National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/magnetic-fields.
And finally, regarding the intersection of Morton Avenue and East Terry Street, Daryl says the city had planned to upgrade and signalize that intersection as part of the next segment of East Terry widening, which will run eastward to Bonita Grande Drive, including the bridge spanning Interstate 75. However, with the possibility that the I-75 widening could be expanded to 10 lanes, the East Terry widening is on hold.
“If (Interstate) 75 goes to 10 lanes in the near future that bridge would have to be replaced,” Daryl said. “It wouldn’t make sense to widen East Terry and then replace the bridge.”
In light of that, the city may examine alternatives at Morton and East Terry, like installing a four-way stop, although the intersection is less than ideal for that form of traffic control.
“Sight distance would be a concern for eastbound traffic as they come off the bridge,” Daryl said. “It’s something we would have to evaluate.”
- - -
Find a complete archive of the “In the Know” at naplesnews.com/intheknow/
Comments
This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below. Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. Break our rules, and we will ban you. No exceptions, no second chances. Read our privacy policy & user agreement.
I have to disagree with Daryl about the turn lane on Matheson. As someone who has lived in Bonita for almost 20 yrs and has been turning form Matheson onto E Terry St long before there was a Gardens in existence or even a turn lane at all, it is definitely safer and makes much more sense to use the turn lanes the way they are painted and therefore, they way they were intended to be used - as two separate lanes. The turn lane closest to E Terry St was constructed long before the Gardens was ever built, and when the condo complex was built, another lane was made specifically for turning into that entrance. The line for the condo turn lane does not even continue all the way around to E Terry St, but instead stops after the Gardens entrance, then begins again after the entrance, indicating 2 separate turn lanes.
As far as the safety issue, it makes sense that it is safer for cars to use one lane for turning at the condos, another for turning at Terry St. This would eliminate any confusion about whether the driver is turning early or continuing aroung to E Terry st. Driving is always safer when drivers know exactly what other drivers are doing. Accidents occur when confusion is present or intent is misconstrued. For people who get in the turn lane early for turning at E Terry, there is no way for drivers behind to know whether they will stop quickly for turning at the Gardens or continue around to E Terry. There would be much less confusion if all drivers used the first turn lane for the Gardens, the second for E Terry St.
#1 Posted by bonita100 on January 4, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Post your comment
(Requires free registration.)