Left to right: Vice Mayor Katy Errington, Mayor Bill Ribble, Karen Brown, Village Manger Steve Sarkozy, Paula Kiker, Councilmembers Jon McLain and Jim Boesch, Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli and Councilmember Nick Batos participated in the ribbon-cutting.
Karen Brown, wife of former District 3 Councilmember Don Brown, and Paula Kiker, wife of former District 3 Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker, performed the actual ribbon-cutting. Both Don Brown and Larry Kiker worked on the Estero Parkway project prior tp passing away.
District 3 Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli, representatives from the Lee County Sherriff’s Office and Estero Fire Rescue, and city leaders joined Village Council members Mayor Bill Ribble, Vice-Mayor Katy Errington, District 3 Councilmember Jon McLain, District 5 Councilmember Jim Boesch and District 6 Councilmember Nick Batos at this special event celebrating the renovation of Estero Parkway.
Councilmember Jon McLain and Mayor Bill Ribble welcomed the crowd and acknowledged all those who participated in the renovation project which included Village staff, in particular Public Works Director David Willems, and a number of consultants and contractors.
The parkway is the first and largest capital improvement project undertaken by the Village since incorporation on December 31, 2014. The transformation of this parkway is not only more attractive with new landscaping, but will improve the safety of this roadway for all user’s day or night.
The major improvements to the parkway include:
- Smooth quiet road surface
- New U-turn opportunities
- Increased length of car stacking at U-turns and HOA entrances
- A new traffic divider installed at Walmart to eliminate a dangerous intersection
- Installed new pedestrian walkways the length of the parkway and placed them away from traffic lanes
- 7’ bicycle lanes with enhanced green color pavement at intersections
- Added street lighting
- Dug three new wells to enable proper irrigation
- Beautified the parkway with an enhanced landscaping program