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Plans delayed to close Immokalee Road lanes at I-75
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Motorists along Immokalee Road can breathe easier.
Just a little, though.
Plans to close lanes beneath the Interstate 75 overpass are being put off by contractors with the interstate expansion, removing the threat of added delays and disruption to the strained road.
The closure, to pare the lanes down from seven to five, was announced two weeks ago, but that decision was reversed this week, said John Rinkenbaugh, communications manager for the I-75 road expansion project known as iROX.
"They want to wait until they absolutely have to do it," Rinkenbaugh said. "That way those lanes won’t have to be down to five lanes for as long."
Rinkenbaugh said project managers were worried about adding disruption to the traffic on Immokalee Road, which has been in a constant state of upheaval since the project to expand the two-lane stretch began a few years ago.
A recent news release from Collier County’s Transportation Services Division warns of intermittent lane closures for the next week as crews complete the final touches in the project, including resurfacing and inspections.
With the road’s final completion anticipated this month, the only work that will be left in the Immokalee Road widening will be landscaping, which will continue into the fall.
When the lane closures do take place in August, it will be to accommodate construction equipment, including cranes, for the rebuilding of the two interstate bridges over Immokalee Road.
"They’re replacing those two bridges while keeping them open, which is quite a feat," Rinkenbaugh said.
Florida Department of Transportation officials have pledged to avoid interstate lane closures between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., so as the sub-structures of both bridges are replaced, they will remain in use. Rinkenbaugh said this is one of the most intensive parts of the iROX project, and the most notable piece of work currently under way along the 30-mile stretch.
Until the closures take place in August, motorists will notice some work on Immokalee Road while crews tear out curbs, lane dividers and median islands. The southern sidewalk will be removed while a temporary sidewalk on the northern side of the road takes its place.
Beginning this week, crews will begin widening the interstate over Pine Ridge Road, as well. While Rinkenbaugh said no lane closures on Pine Ridge Road will be necessary, the lanes will be shifted and become noticeably narrower as crews work on the bridge there.
Unlike the Immokalee interchange, the Pine Ridge overpass won’t be rebuilt entirely, but amended to accommodate the new interstate lanes.
The Pine Ridge and Immokalee bridges are among the seven Rinkenbaugh said now are under construction.
In total, he said, a dozen bridge sites are being expanded and replaced in the iROX project.
Until those bridges are complete, Rinkenbaugh said, the new lanes won’t be opened, despite great strides in paving new portions of the road. He said it is too much of a safety liability to have traffic flowing for six lanes, just to bottleneck to four lanes every few miles.
With unusually dry conditions and few rain delays seven months into the $430 million project, Rinkenbaugh said, work is still ahead of schedule.
"We’re happy with the fact that we’re ahead of schedule," he said. "Weather is going to dictate where we’re at come November."
Contractor ACCI/API stands to gain an additional $15 million for completing the project early, before the scheduled completion date in 2010.
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I live off of Oaks Blvd. and over the last 5 years or so, the intersection of I 75 and Immokalee has been worked on a total of 3 times. What I can't seem to figure out is this: Why would you have 6 lanes going east cut down to 4 at the intersection and 6 lanes going west cut down to 4 going west when just to the east and west of the intersection you have a total of 6 lanes, it creates nothing more than a complete bottle neck. Who is making these decisions? Who is the nucklehead at the top that approves this kind of stupidity? Would it not be smarter to just do it right the first time? Just go one exit south to see how it was done.....widen the overpass similar to Pine Ridge Road. Why spend so much money and still not fix the problem. Why create a bottleneck under the overpass 3 times? The newspaper needs to look into this, expose the stupidity, and review the prior expansion plans of the last 5 years, all of which have not solved one darn thing.
#1 Posted by judgewatcher on June 7, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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