If city council thought its hasty decision to close Southwest 28th Street by barricading a bridge along the roadway would address so-called safety concerns, the board now knows otherwise.

Traffic numbers have not been reduced in the neighborhood; they have merely shifted from the east side of the bridge and picked up on the west, according to a report made by a city road engineer this week.

What’s more, drivers who had been using the roadway for direct access to Skyline and Chiquita boulevards have not slowed down as a result of the city’s attempt to force drivers off the connector road and onto one of the primary thoroughfares. Neighborhood drivers actually have picked up speed, apparently in an attempt to make up the time required by the forced, lengthier routes. 

The council decision did have one effect, though — it’s pitted neighbor against neighbor, with those who want the bridge re-opened claiming they are not only in the majority, but that they were not given any opportunity to provide their arguments before the city threw up the barricades to close a roadway that both sides concede is well used.

While we don’t know which side has more proponents, the re-open-the-bridge faction is correct in the latter argument — they were given no opportunity to be heard before council voted in March to close the bridge. 

The Southwest 28th Street traffic issue came before council as an administrative discussion item, placed on the agenda by Councilmember Bill Deile. Councilman Deile asked council to close the bridge, despite staff recommendations against doing so. Although Mayor Eric Feichthaler asked for a public hearing before any vote, so input from the neighborhood could be heard, the board voted 7-1 to place the barricades while looking into the costs of permanently closing the bridge. 

The council discussion, and vote, came after 11 p.m., long after the public input portion of the meeting, and long after members of the public had left the chambers.

This was wrong — as is the real reason behind the road closure.

The driving force behind the barricades is a fear among some Southwest 28th Street neighborhood homeowners that plans for a major development near the Home Depot on Skyline are in the works. These not-in-my-backyard residents, who lost their battle in opposition to the Home Depot, now are gearing up again in light of the on-going land assemblage efforts of Windsor Thomas, who hopes to attract major retailers to the area.

Close the “back-door” access, and the site becomes less attractive to developers, this resident thinking goes. Closure-proponents have said as much, adding that their best chance is now, not a few years down the road once developers are interested or actual plans are proposed.

We suggest a couple of things.

One, council should revisit the bridge closure when the board reconvenes after its summer hiatus. 

Put it on the first agenda.

Then remove the barriers and open the road. 

Staff has not found any traffic issues and the city’s own study, before the closure, determined that the average speed on the roadway was 33 mph. The speed limit is 30 mph. If speeding is a problem, vigorously enforce the limit. That’s why we have traffic details.

Two, residents need to be realistic about location. If you buy a home along a main roadway, or a connector road to a main thoroughfare, you are going to have traffic. It’s a given. Demand traffic enforcement, not road closures. 

And if you buy a home in an undeveloped area, or near one of the main roadways that still has empty parcels nearby, you are going to have development. Commercial development, which practically every candidate for office for the last two decades has said Cape Coral needs. Demand good buffering and adherence to development codes, not road closures.

Finally, and this one is for council members and residents alike: Don’t ask for, don’t schedule, and don’t accept decision-making on the fly. Issues that affect multiple parties, entire neighborhoods and various classes of people, such as drivers and shoppers, must be given proper notice and an opportunity for input from all affected parties. In this case, input — along with the facts — have come only after council made its decision.

Having all the information makes for better decision making.

Making decisions without proper notice, the opportunity for input, and time for fact-gathering is throwing up a barrier to responsible governance.



— Breeze editorial