Special to the Lehigh Acres Gazette
Lee County will spend $5 million to resurface selected residential roads in Lehigh Acres as part of an ongoing effort to improve roads in the community. The Lee Board of County Commissioners approved a contract 5-0 at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting.
The county will use a contractor to resurface 60 miles of roadway on 300 different streets.
“This is the most significant step in recent history the county has taken to deal with the backlog of road needs in Lehigh,” said Commissioner Frank Mann, whose district includes Lehigh Acres. “In essence we will be doing five times more work over the next few years than what we’ve been able to do annually the last 10.”
Lee County Department of Transportation maintains about 1,500 miles of paved roads in Lehigh Acres. In past years, Lee County spent about $1 million on Lehigh roads; now based on commissioners’ direction given during the recent budget process, the county will spend $5 million annually.
Each year, certain roads in Lehigh Acres are ranked and selected for paving based on resident requests, road conditions and the number of residences on the road. Paving is paid in part through gas tax revenues, and this program is for neighborhood streets, not arterial or collector roads.
For more information about the Lee County Department of Transportation, visit www.leegov.com/dot.