MLK Boulevard

Come summer, the Florida Department of Transportation will be expanding a stretch of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Fort Myers from two lanes to four.

But the multi-million dollar expansion project is about more than adding lanes -- it may very well give an aging part of the city a new lease on life. "It will be going from two lanes to four lanes, between Evans Avenue and Michigan Lake," says FDOT spokesperson Debbie Tower. "We're doing it all, from curb to gutter."

Tower said the refurbished street will be a pedestrian-friendly roadway with sidewalks and extra-wide outside lanes for bicyclists who prefer riding with traffic. The east and west-bound lanes will be separated by a grass median and will include an irrigation sleeve for future landscaping projects planned by the city of Fort Myers. "The city is also doing the sanitary sewer and upgrading the street lighting and a new signal will be added at the corner of Martin Luther King and Palmetto," she says.

A Long Time Coming

Some stretches of the boulevard have seen better days, and businesses with barred-up windows and doors suggest urban decay. But Frank D' Alessandro, president of real estate firm Grubb & Ellis|VIP-D'Alessandro, says improvements like the FDOT has planned are about much more than laying down asphalt -- they're paving the way for an financial resurrection of an area in decline. "Anytime you have an older area and you bring in a new road or widen an existing one you give it a new feel. It's like a new generation," he says.

Besides improving traffic flow, the aesthetic upgrades should encourage new businesses, particularly retail and service industries, to hang out their shingles along the new Martin Luther King Boulevard.

D'Alessandro likens the facelift to recent upgrades on Business 41. "That's a real good example. It's an older area, and it was starting to look a little tired," he says. "But now it looks like a whole new part of town because of the work that has been done there."

Improvements to Martin Luther King Boulevard could help the area reap similar benefits. "It will definitely help. It will give the area a new feel and a new look, and anytime you have road that gets that second chance it benefits everyone one along the route," D'Alessandro says. "The future looks bright for that part of town."

Unfortunately, the turn around isn't likely to begin until after the new incarnation of the street is complete, because developers tend to shy away from building during a major street construction project. But D'Alessandro points out, the planning and preparation phases of the project as well as other minor construction projects along the corridor have yet to have any significant impact.

"Generally, you do see less development during a project like this, mainly because merchants and retailers don't want to through the expense of building and stocking a store if people aren't going to be able to get into it," he says. "So it's kind of a good news, bad news scenario for businesses. When it opens, it will be a much better place to shop and to do business, but during that period of construction there could be a real slowdown in growth and development."

Construction Could Be Lengthy

"It's hard to say for sure at this point," says Tower about the completion time. "It really depends on the contractor. But two years is a good estimate."

The DOT will take bids this spring, and construction should be underway by summer for the estimated $6 million undertaking. "As we stand today we've already got the right-of-way phase finished and have acquired all of the necessary easements," Tower says. "We've acquired some buildings and already demolished some of those structures. We're just about ready to get underway."

And when the work does begin, Tower says, motorists won't be subjected to the seemingly perpetual delays like those associated with recent work on McGregor Boulevard. "This is totally different kind of project," she says. "McGregor was basically a resurfacing project. Although some turn lanes were added, it was still a two lane street and there was no way to move traffic.

In contrast, the Martin Luther King Boulevard project will add lanes. When construction starts, traffic will still be flowing on the two old lanes, and when the new lanes are finished traffic will be diverted to them. "It's two lanes now, it'll be two lanes during construction and when it's finished there will be four lanes. But there will be at lest two for the life of the job," Tower says.

But that doesn't mean some delays aren't possible.

"We always tell people to plan extra travel time," Tower says, "because it's construction and people drive more slowly. Even through there shouldn't be any substantial delays, it's always good to plan a little extra time. If your destination is on Martin Luther King you'll be able to get to it. All businesses and residents will be accessible. It just might take a few extra minutes to get to them."

With that in mind, she says, any unnecessary travel on the thoroughfare should be avoided during construction. "If you need to get somewhere beyond where the construction is taking place, there are alternative routes like State Road 80 and Colonial Boulevard, which are both east-west routes. So, depending on your destination, it's your choice," she says.

Kurt Waters is a freelance business journalist.