PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV has been working to get answers for residents of the Arden community in Palm Beach County as they propose a north exit out of their development.
"I'll be pushing for this project as long as it takes," Arden resident Ben Brown said. "This is an inevitability of the homes and the residents that are already here. It is now time for the county leaders to support the people that are already here."
Brown has been advocating for extending Okeechobee Boulevard west, connecting to the north end of Arden.
"The safety standards are the first and foremost concerns for our residents," Brown said.
Concerns have been brewing as crashes and incidents along Southern Boulevard have blocked residents from the only way in and out of Arden.
The latest incident occurred last week when a crash claimed the lives of three Palm Beach County deputies.
"I would say the meeting went pretty well," Brown said. "The county needs to perform some studies as far as the feasibility of doing it."
The study could look into the size, cost and impact of connecting the western communities with those in the Loxahatchee Groves area.
Brown said if approved the extension could come in phases.
Phase One could extend Okeechobee Boulevard to the north side of Arden.
Phase Two would continue the extension connecting it to Southern Boulevard as it curves north at the 20-mile Bend.
WPTV reached out to Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter's office, but they did not confirm the details.
"If we're talking about moving 10,000 cars through this road right here, what are we looking at?" asked Elizabeth Accomando, the president of the board of supervisors of Indian Trail Improvement District.
The district provides building and maintenance to roads, drainage and parks in the area.
"People are sitting in traffic for hours just to try to get to work, but we don't want to open roads, so how do we find that balance?" Accomando said.
She said a study could cost millions and extending Okeechobee Boulevard west has been a conversation that started well before Arden was developed.
The reason it didn't move forward, she said, was because of the Loxahatchee residents.
"Southern Boulevard is already failing, so what do we do? We're putting all these houses up and we need housing," Accomando said. "How do we help them while not hurting others, so that's the fine balance that we're going to have to come to."
Palm Beach County engineers said that right now there are no extension plans on the county's five-year plan.
Baxter's office said she will be hosting a Town Hall tentatively on Dec. 17 for all stakeholders to voice their opinions on the subject.
"They're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere. We're neighbors," Accomando said. "How are we going to work together to keep our community great and keep everybody safe? And that's the key and that's what we need to work on."
