SWFL.io - Local NewsHunter Walterman
•9/4/2026
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (WINK)—Neighbors are raising concerns about safety on one Lehigh Acres road after a school bus crash sent one student to the hospital.
WINK News first reported on their concerns back in January. Neighbors said rapid growth from new housing developments and schools is adding to traffic to Sunrise Boulevard.
Phyllis Vonderhaar said traffic gets backed up during school pick-up and drop-off, adding roughly 40 minutes to her commute.
"It's very frustrating," Vonderhaar said.
Part of Sunrise Boulevard is a single-lane, east–west road that connects Homestead Road and Richmond Avenue. Amanecer Elementary School and Lehigh Acres Middle School sit at the east end of the road.
Neighbors said this creates a bottleneck, giving parents only one way in and one way out.
Sheila Rogers lives in the Whispering Lakes development across from the elementary school. She said Sunrise Boulevard is the only place parents can line up, making it hard to get in and out of her neighborhood.
"It just is very, very busy, very hectic," Rogers said. "And not everyone is driving safely on the street. So, yeah, there's concerns for accidents as it happened yesterday with the bus."
A car crashed into a Lee County school bus at the intersection of Homestead Road and Sunrise Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators have not assigned blame, although one parent is raising concerns about the bus driver.
Vonderhaar said the crash led her to speak up once again. She said the road is not only frustrating, but dangerous, as drivers try to find shortcuts.
"They're speeding," Vonderhaar said. "They're in the yards. They're driving recklessly."
WINK News took their concerns to county leaders.
This year, the Lee County School District said it pushed up Amanecer Elementary's dismissal time by more than an hour - from 3:10 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. - to ease traffic. Lehigh Acres Middle School is dismissed at 4:15 p.m.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office said it's considering adding more crossing guards to Sunrise Boulevard after a request from the school district.
"[The Sheriff's Office] works with the Lee County School District to assess areas for crossing guards based on identified areas of concern and high-traffic locations around schools," a Sheriff's Office spokesperson said.
Rogers said the road needs to be widened as more homes are built nearby. Centex has acquired 145 homesites for new construction in Whispering Lakes, according to its website. That is directly across from the schools.
"This isn't going to get any better," Vonderhaar said.