A project is transforming Palm Beach Gardens but some who live in the area say it’s affecting traffic.
“This is my whole little area here, this is jacked up,” said Karen Menner, of Palm Beach Gardens.
That’s how Menner describes the congestion along Donald Ross Road and Military Trail near Abacoa.
“What used to take me 10 minutes takes closer to 15 to 20,” added Menner. “I'm annoyed. I moved up here to get some of the quiet and the not so much traffic.”
The traffic is from the surge in people moving to the area and from the vast project near the Florida Turnpike called Alton.
“I think this is going to be like Okeechobee Boulevard, which is exactly what we moved away from,” said Menner.
About one square mile is under construction. The development will include about 1,500 homes and 500,000 square feet of commercial space zoned for retail, up to 300 hotel rooms, 700 apartments and the expansion of the Scripps Research Institute.
“I think it would be great for the area,” said John Oliveri, a sales associate at the UPS Store in Abacoa.
Employees at the store welcome the building boom.
“While the construction gets more, there will be traffic but I'm not too concerned about it once the project is done,” said Oliveri.
More cars on the road means more customers. A welcome sight for stores.
“I'd like to see it,” concluded Oliveri.
The developer plans to announce the big name retailers coming to Alton in two months. The project is expected to be completed by 2024.
