Estero road segment to open.

Another north-south alternative to U.S. 41 in Estero is scheduled to open — at least partially — within a week.The divided, four-lane Via Coconut Point is being built east of U.S. 41 in three phases from Corkscrew Road to south of Coconut Road.It is the planned southern extension of the two-lane Sandy Lane, which already runs from Corkscrew north to Broadway.
A vehicle passes by the roundabout construction site. Developer Simon Property Group is paying nearly $12 million to construct the road as rear access to its Coconut Point mall. Simon got county approval to rename the new segment Via Coconut Point.A more than a half-mile segment of phase one opened just north of Coconut Road for mall traffic after paving was finished in mid-April. Barricades funnel cars into a turn lane into the mall's Market area, which includes the newly opened Old Navy and Sports Authority.
"We're set to open the rest of phase one no later than May 15," a year after construction began, said Ajax Paving Industries Project Superintendent John Blackwell. His company also is paving the mall's parking areas and internal roads.Phil Douglas lives in Lighthouse Bay in The Brooks off Coconut Road east of Via Coconut Point. He also serves on the Estero Council of Community Leaders' transportation committee and said he is glad Via Coconut Point is opening."I think it offers another avenue to get to Williams Road," Douglas said. "It's going to increase traffic. But with the mall there, we need accessibility."
Douglas said he's anxious for the third phase to open from Coconut Road south and west to U.S. 41 across from Pelican Colony Boulevard. Blackwell said another contractor is building that portion.It's under way," he said. "The curb and gutter went in last week."
Blackwell said a product called Thermoplastic, which is thicker and sturdier than road-striping paint, is being applied this weekend to phase one.
Vehicles will then be able to travel the more than one and a half-mile section from Coconut Road to a new roundabout at Williams Road, which has been under construction for about a month.
The one-mile second phase up to Corkscrew will curve eastward about 300 feet north of Williams and run along the west side of the new regional park. That segment is scheduled to open Aug. 31, 14 months after construction began.Most of the underground work for phase two is complete, and the actual road building will begin in the next two weeks.
"Fifty percent of the roadway is roughed in," Blackwell said, noting the work is visible to passersby on Corkscrew and Williams. "There's no concrete stuff yet."Blackwell expects Via Coconut Point to draw plenty of traffic.
"You eliminate two (traffic) lights by avoiding 41," he said, noting Via Coconut Point will have signals at Coconut and at Corkscrew."Right now, we're putting in some temporary signals at Coconut," he said, noting the lights will be activated when phase one opens.