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Coconut Point: Via Coconut Point opens for traffic

By LIANE SMITH (Contact)

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Simon Property Group, Inc., the developer of Coconut Point shopping center in Estero, recently announced that the latest phase of Via Coconut Point opened for traffic on Thursday, Jan. 18. The first phase of the road project, in between Coconut Road and Williams Road, opened Sept. 12. The second phase, from Coconut Road to the Pelican Colony extension and out to U.S. 41 opened Nov. 5.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

The last phase of Via Coconut Point extension is complete, allowing vehicles to follow the street all the way to Corkscrew Road now.

This phase completes the major construction, opening the road from Williams Road at the south end and Corkscrew Road at the north end. This segment includes the new traffic signal at the intersection of Corkscrew Road and Via Coconut Point. This developer improvement of the four-lane arterial is now complete from Corkscrew to Pelican Colony and gives shoppers an alternate route to U.S. 41 into the shopping center.

Coconut Point, a 1.2 million square-foot, mixed-use, main street shopping center offering innovative retail, dining and entertainment choices has drawn enthusiastic crowds of visitors and this improvement will make it easier than ever to access the center. Customers using I-75 to get to Coconut Point can now travel west on Corkscrew from the Interstate and then south on Via Coconut Point directly to the site without having to use U.S. 41 or Three Oaks Parkway.

"We're very happy to create this new entrance into Coconut Point," said Tom Schneider, executive vice president of development at SPG.

Schneider noted that this phase of the Via Coconut Point construction was not a required roadway improvement under the development order and was paid for by Simon and Oakbrook Properties, Inc. The right of way for this segment of road was contributed by several other private landowners.