STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Local News

• Alternative revenue sources may be answer to Marco's property tax shortfall
• Vacation for procreation returns to Marco Island
• Marco's Code Board gives stiff fines for repeat offenders

Share and Enjoy [?]

Phase two of Collier Boulevard construction is still on track to be completed by Dec. 3, said Tim Pinter, senior project manager for Marco Island’s Public Works Department.

ROGER LALONDE / Eagle staff

Traffic creeps past the closed northbound lanes of North Collier Boulevard in between Bald Eagle Drive and East Elkcam Circle. Construction on that side of the road is expected to wrap up by the end of the month, when traffic will be rerouted so crews can work on the southbound lanes.

Story: View from above: Collier Boulevard on schedule (09-14-07)

“If God’s willing and the well doesn’t freeze over, it will be done before then,” he said.

Construction crews are still working on the northbound lanes of the road north of the Smokehouse Bay bridge, but Pinter said he anticipates work to switch over to the southbound lanes by the end of the month.

He said the biggest hurdle standing in the way of that switch is the work the city must do on the water lines located at the intersection of North Collier and East Elkcam Circle.

There, he said, the pipes and force main have to be relocated to make room for a storm drain. While this work is highly time consuming, Pinter said the underground work on the opposite side of the road will not be as intensive.

“We had to work with trunk lines and the storm drain on the northbound side,” Pinter said. “The southbound is about connecting laterals, the short sections of pipe.”

When construction crosses the road, the streets and business entrances along the northbound lanes will open again. Pinter said some similar road blockages will be necessary on the opposite side.

“There will be some minor road closures, but we want to try to keep entrances to all of the businesses open” he said. “We’ll leave open enough driveways that people can get into the commercial areas.”

Street lights are also undergoing installation along the roadside of the northbound lanes.

As construction chugs along at North Collier’s most crowded pass, the stretch of road below the Smokehouse Bay bridge gets its finishing touches.

Also known as “phase one” of Collier construction, the stretch of road south of the bridge is now open on all four lanes, with some landscaping work continuing.