Valencia Trails Finally Has A Back Gate To Vanderbilt Beach Road, So Why Is It So Hard To Find At Night?

"To have no lighting at all, it's a definite safety concern." Valencia Trails resident Lisa Drumgoole told Naples Press that residents and visitors struggle to find the community's new entrance off the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension after sunset. WINK News covered the same complaint in mid-September, with footage of drivers turning in from an unlit road.

That darkness was a deliberate design choice. It also explains how the gate fits into a Valencia Trails week. The south gate puts Mercato, The Shoppes at Vanderbilt and The Pavilion within easy reach in daylight. After dark, the Immokalee Road entrance is still the easier one to find.

A Second Way Out That The Community Added Itself

The south gate goes back to well before the road opened. At a Collier County Planning Commission hearing in February 2025, a Valencia Trails resident told commissioners that "our GL community has built a gate" for "the exit that leads to Vanderbilt." The hearing transcript spells the connecting road Windamere Trail. Later Naples Press coverage spells it Windemere Trail, and this post uses that spelling from here on. Another resident at that hearing said a Vanderbilt connection would give the community "two exits and entrances," which he expected to "help tremendously."

That second way out arrived on June 12, 2026. Collier County opened Phase One of the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension that day, seven miles of new road running from Collier Boulevard to 16th Street NE. It is six lanes as far as just west of Wilson Boulevard, then narrows to two. New signals went in at Wilson Boulevard, 8th Street NE and 16th Street NE. Naples Press reports that the project cost more than $200 million, the most Collier County has ever spent on a road.

From the county's side, Windemere Trail was never part of that project. County officials describe it as a private road inside Valencia Trails, gated at both ends and owned and maintained by the homeowners association. They also say the community added the entrance on its own. That status is what decided who pays for lighting.

Why The Extension Stays Dark

Residents asked for streetlights. The county declined and gave this explanation:

"The public input into the design was predominantly against installing streetlights and to maintain the rural character of the area. A fully lit roadway corridor would affect the direct neighbors, as well as the wildlife in the area and the desire was for 'Dark Skies.'"

Under that policy, streetlights went only where intersections already existed or where the project built new ones. Officials compared the approach to Golden Gate Boulevard. The Valencia Trails entrance was neither, so it got none. Drumgoole said residents were told the community's request "was a little bit late coming to the table," because the extension was already deep into planning. Her response: "As a homeowner, I really don't think it's our responsibility to put up street lighting on a major county road."

So the HOA owns the decision on any future lighting at the gate. Meanwhile, the south entrance is a quick daytime route, and guests coming after dark need clear directions. Anyone hosting dinner this season can save a dinner guest a missed turn by telling them which gate to use.

Where The South Gate Leads This Fall

The south gate sends Valencia Trails residents straight down Vanderbilt Beach Road. Several businesses along that corridor opened, closed or changed hands in the past few months, and more are on the way before the end of the year:

1. Sour & Dough Artisan Bakery opened in September at 893 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Unit 58, in The Pavilion. It serves French-inspired breads, pastries, sandwiches and specialty coffee, which suits a morning run out the south gate.
2. The Good Pour, a wine and spirits market, opened in early September in a new 7,200-square-foot building at 2373 Vanderbilt Beach Road in The Shoppes at Vanderbilt. It offers tastings, and Naples Press reported a grand-opening celebration set for October 16 through 18.
3. Paradise Coast Mahjong has been planning an October opening in Suite 705 at The Shoppes at Vanderbilt, with lessons, leagues and open play. Big Daddy Smash Burger is targeting November at 355 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 142. Both dates are targets, so check before you go.
4. Mercato's movie screens went dark when Alamo Drafthouse closed its North Naples cinema on September 9. Paragon Theaters, which already runs the 10-screen cinema at The Pavilion, hopes to reopen all 11 Mercato screens by mid-December with dine-in recliners. Naples Press reported that the deal was not final yet, and Mercato's management said a new theater tenant was "in process."
5. Mercato's fall calendar lists a Pumpkin Patch benefiting SNIP Collier from October 17 to 25, a Haunted Hoedown on October 20, Hallowine on October 29 and Taste of Mercato on November 7.
6. The Turtle Club at 9225 Gulf Shore Drive reopened May 5 after rebuilding and serves lunch and dinner. It's the farthest stop on the list, out where Vanderbilt Beach Road reaches the Gulf.

Several of these are evening outings: Hallowine, Taste of Mercato and, eventually, a December movie. The south gate handles the outbound trip easily. Coming home after dark, Windemere Trail is the turn the county chose not to light.

The Front Gate Still Covers The East Side

Immokalee Road still covers a whole side of the errand map, and the newest openings out there are just as fresh. Winchester Center, off Immokalee south of Oil Well Road, has added tenants all year around its Sunshine Ace Hardware anchor. Anytime Fitness, Cold Stone Creamery, Little Caesars Pizza and Pixie Nail Lounge opened this spring, and Osaka Hibachi followed on June 2. Maruto's Cuban Cafe began regular hours July 6 at 13487 Winchester Trail, Unit 300. That NY Bagel Place opened August 7 in Unit 150. Its owner, Derek Leverant, lives nearby in Waterways and works as an engineer for the North Collier Fire Department.

A bit farther out, The Shoppes at Orange Blossom, at Oil Well Road and Big Corkscrew Drive, added Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Wingstop, Great Clips and Encore Nails this spring next to the Publix that opened last fall. Chipotle, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A are under construction or announced there, and the developer expects many of those to open in early 2027.

Put the two halves together and the gates split the week fairly cleanly. The south gate leads west to North Naples' older, busier corridor. The front gate leads east to centers that are still filling in. And for staying in, GATHER at Valencia Trails, the clubhouse restaurant at 11880 Majestic Trails Blvd., serves lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch and happy hour without either drive.

Season Arrives Before The Next Round Of Roadwork

The real test of the south gate is the next few months. At the February 2025 hearing, county planning director Mike Bosi acknowledged that Immokalee traffic is "pretty heavy" from 4 to 7 in February and March. He also cited a staff estimate that Immokalee could carry 20 to 25 percent less traffic once Vanderbilt opened. That estimate was made before the road opened. The coverage we reviewed contains no traffic counts taken since June. Opening day, Naples Press described traffic on the extension as "light."

Several road projects are lined up behind the extension. Each one changes which gate makes sense for which trip:

The spring 2027 lane reduction matters most for south-gate trips, because it falls on Vanderbilt Beach Road itself, east of US-41. Commissioner Bill McDaniel, who pushed for the extension for years, told Naples Press that "one of the largest impacts on your quality of life is your capacity to get from A to B." Valencia Trails now has two ways to make that trip. For now, the second one works best before sunset.

If you're weighing how the new gate and this season's roadwork affect your plans in Valencia Trails, the bilingual team at NuVista Real Estate Group is glad to walk through it with you, in English or Spanish. Start Your Home Journey with us whenever the timing feels right.