In the days after Hurricane Ian crashed through Southwest Florida, storm-weary motorists found more frustration on Lee County roads.

Some traffic signals were knocked off connections to the power grid while other red, green and yellow lights ended up at awkward angles, giving uncertain direction to drivers.

"Some are working and then some are out and its spotty," said Katie Gordon. "You'll have one traffic light working and then like the next two won't be working, or two will be working and then all of a sudden the next one won't be working.

"It's stop and go. You gotta be careful because you've got the ones who aren't paying attention."

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Police officers and a seemingly endless supply of bright orange traffic cones redirected traffic at some of the region's more challenging intersections.

At other four-way intersections with no working signals, many motorists were forced to recall right-of-way rules taught in high school driver's education.

Some accepted the delays and reconfigured intersections as part of carving a path back to normal.

"It's better today; they've got some of the lights working," Chris Knoop of Fort Myers, a 19-year resident of Southwest Florida said Wednesday. "You just get used to it. You just have to learn patience."

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On the other hand, some were frustrated, especially when left-hand turns were eliminated at some busy intersections in favor of a drive up the street to make a legal U-turn, something not often accomplished during a single left-turn light cycle.

"The cops don't want to direct the traffic, so they just make everybody go one way," said Janis Richey of Fort Myers after shopping along busy Colonial Boulevard. "They have to go up and do a bunch of U-turns and make all kinds of turns and spend more on gas."

Some drivers, however, looked at the changed configuration as a way of reaching their destination without playing chicken with oncoming traffic.

"I have people saying, 'It's different,'" said Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore. "They are grateful for the fact that we are keeping the intersection open.

"There are some that may be inconvenienced or different, such as where we are restricting left-hand turns, but that is a force multiplier to be able to deploy and get more coverage," Sizemore added.

The force multiplier concept means configuring the traffic routes to require fewer police officers to remain on duty at a particular intersection, freeing officers for other duties during the region's post-hurricane trauma.

"We don't have police officers staged at every single intersection, we don't have the resources for that, but we do at the major intersections," said Fort Myers Police Capt. Jason Fields. "Some cones, maybe some signage, maybe portable stop signs, putting up some tape, it's to give guidance to get people through those intersections."

Some have voiced hope that traffic signals could be restored by something as simple as putting in a new light bulb, but replacing lights is not the biggest problem.

Sizemore said police see three issues that most often arise when traffic lights go bad.

"The first one is energizing the working traffic signals that are ready to go — they just need power," Sizemore said. "Two, the degradation or damage with the electronics in the big metal box at the intersection; number three (signals) are completely gone or missing."

Each of the problems requires a different solution, and the variety of parts and equipment can mean delays. 

"Some may take weeks to get here and that's an optimistic estimate. Some will use Jersey barriers to semi-permanently reroute the traffic," Sizemore said, "We cannot simply have officers simply directing traffic for months."

Not all members of the public see the struggles brought on by the hurricane as being worthy of criticism.

"We've been doing pretty well out there, with the major lights working in our area," said Bayshore resident Pam Danette. "They were up, but they were not working and they fixed them ... there are some that are still slanted, but that's OK with me."