Traffic signals outside the new Lowe’s Home Improvement store on State Road 54 are expected to be operational within two to three weeks, according to officials with the Florida Department of Transportation.
The addition of stop lights and turn lanes that will help get motorists in and out of Lowe’s and the Village Lakes Shopping Center is welcome news to area residents and business owners.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Billy Fotopoulos, owner of Pizza Villa, remembers when the shopping center and his restaurant were under construction three decades ago.
“We needed the light there 30 years ago,” Fotopoulos said. But he said state highway officials turned down a request for a traffic signal from Fotopoulos and other business owners.
“Without the light there, you can’t get out of (the parking lot) to go east or even going west, you’re taking your life in your hands,” he said.
Charlene Wingo agreed. She and some friends were leaving the shopping center last week, laden with their purchases. “The light will make it a lot easier to head east on State Road 54,” she said. “I was just thinking now, ‘How am I going to get out of the parking lot?’ ”
Fotopoulos said he loses business due to the lack of traffic signals. Residents living on State Road 54, southeast of the shopping center, are reluctant to try and cross over, he said.
“It will save businesses. It will save lives there,” Fotopoulos said.
The signal will give motorists a green light to turn left, going east on State Road 54. Motorists also can cross over the road to access entrances to either Lowe’s or the Village Lakes Shopping Center.
When the traffic signals are activated, highway officials say they will be synced with signals at the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41 to help ease traffic flow. The signals will be the only ones between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway about 2 miles away.
The half-mile distance between the signals at the intersection and those by Lowe’s are standard, highway officials said.
The 152,000 square-foot Lowe’s, at 21500 State Road 54, is expected to open in April.
Published March 25, 2015
