PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — In Palm Beach Gardens at our second issue-based Let's Hear It event, we asked you to bring your traffic concerns and you delivered. Our team was there all day and the biggest concern that you brought was Northlake Boulevard and its surrounding extension projects.
The heavily trafficked avenue cuts through a large portion of Palm Beach County and multiple jurisdictions. It makes it unclear who drivers should reach out to to voice their concerns.
Thats why WPTV’s Michael Hoffman is digging into that jurisdictional headache.
Wesley Long has lived in Osprey Isles on Northlake Blvd. for years.
“We moved out there 2016, it was a lot less congestion because there wasn't Westlake and Avenir,” said Long. “So it never was an issue."
Since he’s lived there he says the issues with traffic exploded. He says when accidents happen, traffic backs up for miles, keeping people in gridlock for hours. His wife, an on-call physician, was called in to the hospital and because of all this traffic, a trip that should take minutes, took nearly an hour.
“It's like trying to suck ice through a straw,” said Long.
At our recent "Let's Hear It" event focused on your traffic concerns, dozens of drivers voiced their frustrations, worried that infrastructure is not keeping up with demand.
Along the busy Northlake Blvd. corridor, the search for solutions can come with complications.
This map, from the city of Palm Beach Gardens, details the four different road ownerships and three different jurisdictions along Northlake running from Seminole Pratt to east of Beeline Highway.
“Who has the priority to make the make the call,” asked Long.
A kaleidoscope of color that Palm Beach Gardens council member Marcie Tinsley is very aware of.
“It's our job to listen and then also be that squeaky wheel,” said Tinsley.
Tinsley says Palm Beach Gardens has a mobility plan focusing on being proactive for future development while also encouraging residents to share their concerns.
“Make the phone call, express that concern,” said Tinsley. “But I'm here to listen, because it takes all of us to be proactive and obtain the right results that we all want.”
She added that long-term answers will come through cooperation.
“All jurisdictions should be working together on all of these issues,” said Tinsley.
