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Competition is stiff in Southwest Florida for funding for road projects through the state’s growth management bill.

Leaders from Lee and Collier counties approved a list of priorities for state money Wednesday during a joint meeting of the counties’ metropolitan planning organizations.

But even being at the top of the list of 18 projects does not guarantee pet projects from cities and counties will get Transportation Regional Incentive Program (TRIP) funding.

The Florida Department of Transportation has $55 million to split among the 12 counties in District 1 over three years, or $18.5 million per year.

Requests for funding for projects in Lee and Collier counties alone total more than $27 million in fiscal year 2007-08. Over the three-year funding period, requests from Lee and Collier counties total more than $116 million.

“The likelihood of one or two counties getting all $18.5 million is not good,” said Johnny Limbaugh, southwest area office manager for FDOT.

The 12 counties in FDOT’s District 1 break into five regions. Each region will turn in a list of priorities to FDOT. Limbaugh and others will analyze the list and try to find projects that will provide the biggest benefit to the area’s transportation system.

“We want to see projects move forward,” Limbaugh said. “Rather than fund a bit of each priority, we try to put dollars where they will make a project more realistic.”

To be eligible for TRIP funds, counties and cities must supply at least 50 percent of the funding for a project.

FDOT officials give greater consideration to projects where local funding is more than 50 percent of the total cost, Limbaugh said.

Last year, the first year TRIP was funded through the state’s growth management bill, FDOT funded the top two priorities from Lee and Collier counties and nothing else, said David Loveland, director of planning for the Lee Department of Transportation.

If the same holds true for 2007-08 funding, Lee may see TRIP money only for its No. 1 priority — $3 million for new maintenance and administrative offices for LeeTran.

Collier’s top priority, $7 million to widen Collier Boulevard from four to six lanes between Pine Ridge Road and Golden Gate Boulevard, is second on the two-county list.

Some of the projects that are lower down on the list likely won’t get funding, Loveland said.

The city of Bonita Springs requested $5 million to widen Old 41 Road from Rosemary to U.S. 41 in fiscal year 2007-08, but that project is on the priority list from Lee and Collier.

Fort Myers Beach leaders won’t lose any sleep if a proposal to build a LeeTran park-and-ride facility on Summerlin Road and San Carlos Boulevard does not receive funding.

William Shenko, a town of Fort Myers Beach councilman, fought to get the project removed from the priority list because, he said, beach residents do not support the park-and-ride program.

Most of the trolleys are empty and just add to traffic on the already clogged roads, Shenko said. He also accused LeeTran employees of fabricating numbers to make it appear like more people are using the trolleys.

“We see empty trolleys running up and down the beach constantly in their own dedicated lanes,” Shenko said. “It causes road rage.”

However, Shenko could only get one other member to agree with him. Others on the joint MPO board said the issue is bigger than Fort Myers Beach because the proposal is for a regional facility, which would serve people from all over the county who want to visit the beach.

“All wisdom and common sense and evidence speaks to the importance of public transportation,” Lee Commissioner Ray Judah said.

Lee and Collier counties’ priorities and requests for funding through the state’s Transportation Regional Incentive Program

2007-08 priorities

1. New LeeTran operations facility — $3 million

2. Widen Collier Boulevard from Pine Ridge Road to Golden Gate Boulevard — $7 million

3. Dual left-turn lanes at State Road 82 and Daniels Parkway — $500,000

4. A new four-lane Santa Barbara Boulevard from Rattlesnake Hammock to Davis Boulevard — $7 million

5. LeeTran transfer center at Edison Mall — $1 million

6. CAT operations administration center — $2.987 million

7. A hot lane on eastbound Colonial Boulevard to southbound Interstate 75 — $1 million

8. Widen from two to four lanes Old 41 Road between Rosemary Drive and U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs — $5 million

2008-09 priorities

1. Widen State Road 82 between I-75 and Lee Boulevard — $18 million

2. Widen State Road 78 in Cape Coral — $12 million

3. Widen Del Prado Boulevard in Cape Coral — $5.5 million

4. Widen Veterans Memorial from U.S. 41 to Livingston —$3.9 million

5. Widen Ortiz Avenue — $18.1 million

6. LeeTran park and ride facility — $1 million

7. Improvements to Page Field — $5 million

2009-10 priorities

1. Widen Oil Well Road between Everglades Boulevard and Desoto Boulevard — $7 million

2. Extend Three Oaks Parkway from Alico Road north to Daniels Parkway — $10 million

3. Widen Second Street in Fort Myers — $18 million