FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Saeed Kazemi, Lee County Department of Transportation
                (941) 479-8503

FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 7, 2000) – Lee County has completed construction of a 3.25-mile road extension that will open up Lehigh Acres to south Lee County, including important access to Southwest Florida International Airport and Florida Gulf Coast University.

The $6-million Daniels Road Extension connects Daniels Parkway where it previously ended just south of the Gateway Community to State Road 82 and Gunnery Road in Lehigh Acres. The four-lane divided extension took eight months to build and will open to traffic Nov. 14.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. at the southwest corner of where the extension intersects with State Road 82. Vehicle traffic will be allowed on the extension immediately following the ceremony.

The road is a final link in a corridor that opens east Lee County to south Lee County, the airport, university and on into U.S. 41 in south Fort Myers. George Sanders Inc. and Land Trust #5018 donated the property for the project to the county. Because of this generous gift, the cost was greatly reduced and the road was completed sooner.

The connector should make Lehigh Acres more accessible to FGCU students seeking housing. In addition, the extension will positively affect Lehigh’s Westgate Industrial Park, making it more accessible to the airport for air shipping and providing another access to Interstate 75.

The start of construction on this project culminated two years of discussions and negotiations with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to get construction permits. The county’s firm stance ultimately saved taxpayers $1.3 million in costs associated with the permitting.