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Q: I live on Marco Island about seven months a year. The island has undergone beautiful landscape renovation over recent years and is most attractive from the moment one crosses the Jolley Bridge. Unfortunately, the area immediately before the bridge, where County Road 951 ends, is always an eyesore. Cars are there almost daily with “for sale” signs and this is not a used car lot. Is there any action Collier County might take to clean up this unsightly area?

-- Susan Lamberson, Marco Island

A: The good news is a 1.5-mile landscaping project is in the design stage now that is expected to improve the look of Collier Boulevard, starting 1,000 feet north of the Judge S.S. Jolley Bridge. The bad news is that this work isn’t scheduled to begin until spring 2009, according to Connie Deane, community liaison for the Collier County Transportation Services Division.

Through a local agency program agreement, Deane said the county will complete the $448,100 in median landscaping and will be reimbursed by the Florida Department of Transportation.

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Q: I would like to know how many lanes there will eventually be on Golden Gate Parkway at the corner of Santa Barbara, and when is the expected completion date? Right now, there are four lanes, two of which turn left at Santa Barbara, one that goes straight on Golden Gate and one that turns right; and it causes a terrible bottleneck effect at most any time of day. I dread that road during season!

-- Debi Goodaker, Naples

A: Golden Gate Parkway at Santa Barbara Boulevard intersection will have three left-turn lanes, three through lanes and one right-turn lane for westbound traffic; and two left-turn lanes, three through lanes and one right-turn lane for eastbound traffic, Deane said.

“Studies were done to determine where the majority of drivers would be heading and the appropriate number of lanes were designed to facilitate the traffic flow,” she said.

This intersection is part of the 5.25-mile Santa Barbara Boulevard project that extends from Davis Boulevard to Copper Leaf Lane. Construction began in February, and is scheduled for completion in mid-2009, Deane said.

The project, contracted to Astaldi Construction Corp., calls for widening the section from Davis Boulevard to Golden Gate Parkway from four lanes to six lanes, reconstructing the four-lane portion from that point to Copper Leaf Lane in a six-lane footprint to provide for widening from the median in the future, and improving Radio Road from Santa Barbara Boulevard to Davis Boulevard from two lanes to four lanes, the county Transportation Services Division reports.

Some intersection improvements will be made at Pine Ridge Road as well. Sidewalks and on-road bike lanes will be included on both sides of Santa Barbara Boulevard and Radio Road. Streetlights, the widening of two bridges and drainage improvements are included in the project.

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Tim Aten is multimedia news editor of the Daily News. E-mail questions with your name and city of residence to intheknow@naplesnews.com.

For a complete archive of "In the Know" columns, click on naplesnews.com/intheknow/