FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Scott Gilbertson, Lee County Department of Transportation
                (941) 479-8580

FORT MYERS, Fla. (January 9, 2001) – Lee County is one step closer to receiving state grant funding for two major, and long anticipated, roadway extensions that would relieve congestion on Interstate 75 and U.S. 41.

The state’s Transportation Outreach Program (TOP) Advisory Council recommended Monday that the county receive $16 million for the extension of Metro Parkway south to U.S. 41 and $4 million for the extension of Treeline Avenue near Southwest Florida International Airport and between Alico Road and Daniels Parkway.

The $20 million is from Florida’s Transportation Outreach Program, which funds major highway improvements and public transportation projects throughout the state.

A contingent from Southwest Florida, including county commissioners John Albion and Bob Janes, FGCU President Bill Merwin, State Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, representatives from the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Lee County Port Authority, and state and county DOT officials attended the council’s meeting Monday to lobby for the funds.

The advisory council reviews and prioritizes projects submitted for funding and makes a recommendation to the Legislature. About $116 million is available in next year’s state budget for TOP funding.

If the Legislature approves the recommendation, funding for the Metro Extension could move up the project by as much as four years, from 2008 to 2004. The county had requested $22 million for Metro, so it still is $6 million short in the total. However, transportation officials still are refining estimates so the shortfall may be lower.

The Treeline project still needs an additional $10 million of funding. It will be a critical component of the expansion of Southwest Florida International Airport because it will lead to and from the airport’s new entrance between Alico Road and Daniels Parkway north to Daniels Parkway.

When the projects are completed, they will help relieve traffic congestion on both U.S. 41 and Interstate 75.

"Completing these links is vital to the smooth functioning of the county’s entire transportation network," says Commissioner Albion. "This is new money, not local tax dollars, for unfunded portions of needed projects, which makes it even more fortunate that these projects ranked so well in the state’s prioritization process."