When do the cones come off Corkscrew Road between Bella Terra Boulevard and Alico Road? According to Lee County's October 16 project update, the answer is now late Spring 2027. That's a full season later than the "end of 2026" date the county was still using in early September.
The change matters because the rest of the corridor didn't wait for it. A grocery store, a new access lane, streetlights, a cell tower and a private golf club are all reaching east Corkscrew on their own schedules, and most of them arrive while the road is still half built. For anyone who lives off this stretch, this winter's question is less about what's new and more about how the new places connect to a road that isn't finished.
The Finish Date Now Falls After Season
Phase 2 covers Corkscrew Road from Bella Terra Boulevard to Alico Road. It's the eastern piece of a 4.4-mile widening that starts at Ben Hill Griffin Parkway. The project costs roughly $27 million, and Bergeron Land Development is the contractor. The county posted the new completion date in the same notice that set the October work schedule, and it gave the reasons for the delay:
"Due to additional work required by Lee County Utilities, as well as delays in utility relocations by FPL and Lumen, the project completion is expected late Spring 2027."
Put simply, the holdup is underground and overhead. Water lines, power poles and telecom cable have to move before the road crew can finish. Those relocations also shaped the shared-use path and the streetlights, as the sections below show. The project page at corkscrewroadwidening.com is the county's official channel for questions.
What the Drive Looks Like Until Spring
Going by the county's October notices and the Engage Estero October 2026 corridor update, here's how the drive runs heading east from I-75:
- Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and Grand Oaks Plaza. If you leave Grand Oaks Plaza headed east, you cross three westbound lanes and make a U-turn at the signal at Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and Stoneybrook Golf Drive.
- The Stoneybrook frontage. The Miromar Design Center, CVS, the Stoneybrook community and Stoneybrook Golf Course with Duffy's all empty onto Corkscrew through two exit lanes: one for left turns and one shared by through traffic and right turns.
- Corkscrew Shores to Alico Road. Eastbound lanes are carrying two-way traffic while the westbound lanes are built. North-side paving from the Corkscrew Shores main entrance to Alico started the week of October 12, and it includes the eastbound left-turn lane onto Alico. The county says to expect intermittent daytime flagging on both Corkscrew and Alico inside the project limits, with trucks moving in and out of the lanes.
- The Alico Road intersection. Crews put up new signal mast arms overnight on September 13 into September 14. Even so, the signal was still running on the old wire-hung lights as of mid-October, and the new left-turn lane opens only when the signal is ready for it. The county did a weekend of overnight closures at this intersection October 23 through 26 to rebuild the roadway.
This is the road that the corridor's newest stops will open onto.
A Grocery Store With Its Own New Turn Lane
The biggest change most households will notice this winter is the Aldi at 11906 Newbridge Drive. Its site is reached from Corkscrew Road at Stoneybrook Golf Drive. Estero's Planning, Zoning and Design Board approved the 20,642-square-foot store with conditions in July 2025. The store was on the Village's under-construction list at the October 7 Village Council workshop.
The store is tied directly to the road work. The Village requires a new right-in, right-out access with a right-turn lane, serving the Aldi, a vacant lot and the self-storage site, to be built before Aldi opens. Engage Estero puts that opening in December 2026. Curb work started the week of August 31, and the concrete pour included the multi-use path through the new access point. By mid-October, only final grading and paving were left. In practice, the newest driveway on Corkscrew is being finished alongside the widening rather than after it.
Several other stops near the west end of the corridor are already open:
| Stop | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Whataburger | 22927 Lyden Drive, former Pollo Tropical space near Coconut Point | Opened October 22, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, dine-in and drive-through |
| RAD Tasting Room | Miromar Outlets, 10801 Corkscrew Road | Open as of early September, after the Corkscrew Road winery farm closed |
| Aldi | 11906 Newbridge Drive | Under construction, slated for December 2026 |
| Chick-fil-A | 20320 Grand Oak Shoppes Blvd., Grand Oaks Plaza | Under construction, 2027 target |
The Naples Daily News covered the Whataburger opening, and The News-Press reported that the RAD Tasting Room stayed open after the farm property sold.
The Path and the Tower Moved Faster Than the Pavement
While the travel lanes are still under construction, the Village of Estero's side project along the same road has mostly caught up. The Village's shared-use path plan calls for a 10-foot asphalt path on the north side from Ben Hill Griffin Parkway to the eastern Grandezza entrance at Palermo Lake Court, with a 6-foot sidewalk continuing toward Wild Blue Vista. A matching 10-foot path runs along the south side to Bella Terra Boulevard.
Most of it is done. Several south-side sections were finished the week of August 31. The gap in front of Stoneybrook and the self-storage site waited on power poles: many were moved the last week of September, and streetlights went up in front of Stoneybrook the week of October 5. As of mid-October, the path lights still hadn't been installed. Native median landscaping started the week of August 10. Its irrigation runs on reclaimed water, under permits from Lee County Utilities. South-side streetlights inside the Phase 2 zone have been on since June.
Cell service follows the same pattern. The new tower on the Bella Terra commercial parcel went up April 30, and Verizon went live the week of August 24. Engage Estero reported five bars near the tower and three by Bella Terra's third circle. T-Mobile started installing hardware in August and then stalled, and AT&T is scheduled to follow T-Mobile. A Lee County radio tower with cell capability, east of Kingston Village, is expected by the end of 2026.
2027 Is When the Rest of the Corridor Arrives
The widening isn't the only east Corkscrew project with a 2027 date. Two of the corridor's most anticipated additions are scheduled for the same year.
Chick-fil-A at Grand Oaks Plaza
The Perkins at Grand Oaks Plaza was torn down the week of August 3, and Chick-fil-A construction started in early September. Gulfshore Business reports two drive-through lanes in the plans and a 2027 opening target if construction stays on schedule. Because it shares the plaza exit described above, heading east from the restaurant will mean the same three-lane crossing and U-turn at Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.
Pandion Club on the Old Corkscrew Site
Farther east, the former Old Corkscrew Golf Club closed earlier this year. Golfweek reported that architect Kyle Phillips, known for Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland, broke ground in July on Pandion Club. It's a private, golf-only club with a par-71 course stretching to 7,220 yards, a Lowcountry-inspired clubhouse and membership capped at 280, and it's scheduled to open in 2027. The name comes from the osprey, Pandion haliaetus. The Hoffmann Family of Companies, which also owns the Florida Everblades and Old Collier Golf Club, is behind it, and its own announcement gives a late-2027 opening. Lining up the club's entrance with The Place's entrance and adding a signal are under discussion, and the development order sets aside land for future widening of Corkscrew Road.
So the finished four-lane road, the new drive-through at the corridor's western gateway and the private course near its eastern end are all on a 2027 schedule.
East of Alico, the Wait Is Longer
For households beyond Alico Road, late Spring 2027 isn't the finish line. The draft Lee County MPO 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan funds no widening of Corkscrew east of Alico for the next 10 years. Lee County DOT Director Rob Price has explained that a design study for a third phase would expire before any construction money arrives. A possible infrastructure sales tax could go to voters in 2028, with collections starting July 2029 if it passes.
East of Alico, the nearer-term changes are coming from private development. Cameratta Companies is widening Corkscrew to four lanes along Kingston Village, where traffic moved onto the new eastbound lanes on June 22. Kingston Village Parkway, a new north-south road to State Route 82, is expected to open with a signal at SR 82 by Winter 2027/2028. The county's Alico Road extension is set to start in the fourth quarter of 2026 and finish in late 2029. Engage Estero says its next corridor report is due in January 2027, months before the new Phase 2 finish date.
If construction timelines like these are factoring into a decision about your current east Corkscrew home or a move within Estero, Laurel McGarel Group can go through it with you street by street, from the Alico intersection to the newest entrances. Schedule a private consultation, and we'll keep you posted as the county revises the schedule this season.