FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Nicole Maxey, Department of Transportation
               (239) 479-8569

ROAD PROJECT CONNECTING LEE TO COLLIER TO BE DEDICATED JANUARY 14, 2004

FORT MYERS, Fla. (January 5, 2004) - Officials will dedicate a road Jan. 14 that connects a corridor running through southern Lee and northern Collier counties.

The Livingston Road/Imperial Street ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 11 a.m. at the Livingston and Immokalee roads intersection in Collier County (Albertson's Plaza). Co-masters of ceremonies will be Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah and Collier County Commissioner Frank Halas.

Livingston Road and its connection into Lee County has been a joint effort of Collier and Lee counties, the City of Bonita Springs and the Bonita Bay Group. When all segments are complete, the 12-mile connector will be the first north-south arterial to be built in Collier County since Interstate 75 was completed 20 years ago and will connect to Three Oaks Parkway in Lee County.

The section being dedicated Jan. 14 runs from Immokalee Road in Collier north, connecting to Imperial Street at the Collier-Lee line. From there, Imperial runs a mile north to Bonita Beach Road and then beyond to East Terry Street.

Lee County spent $3.4 million (excluding right of way of about $1.4 million) on the four-lane Imperial Street connector from the county line to Bonita Beach Road. In addition, the Bonita Bay Group spent $7.2 million for the initial two lanes of Livingston Road from Immokalee Road to the Collier-Lee line, which now is six lanes up to Bonita's "Mediterra" Community and four lanes north of that. This was the first time in Collier County transportation history that a private company advanced the construction of an arterial highway of this magnitude.

Imperial Street at Bonita Beach Road eventually will connect to the Three Oaks Parkway Extension through Bonita Springs on up to Three Oaks/San Carlos Park and north to Daniels Parkway.

Other segments of Livingston Road and their state of completion are:

•  Radio Road to Golden Gate Parkway (2 miles) - completed fall 2001.
•  Golden Gate Parkway to Pine Ridge Road (3 miles) - completed late 2002.
•  Pine Ridge Road to Immokalee Road (4 miles) - to be completed in two segments: Pine Ridge Road to  Vanderbilt Beach Road (Jan. 2004); Vanderbilt Beach Road to Immokalee Road (fall 2004).

Grants from the Florida Department of Transportation funded about $9.5 million of the $50-plus million project in Collier and Lee counties.