By Mary Hladky
City officials and residents have talked for more than a decade about improving Palmetto Park Road. But so far, little has been accomplished.
Now, a new ad hoc group that includes Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and prominent land use attorney Ele Zachariades, acting as a city resident, is tackling the issue anew.
Group members drew a crowd of at least 120 people for a visioning session on March 24 to hear how residents would like to see a nearly half-mile section of the road from Federal Highway to Fifth Avenue transformed.
Topics on the table included how many lanes the road should have, possible elimination of on-street parking, sidewalk width, addition of trees and landscaping, improving walkability and bike-ability, and creating a sense of place along the major artery.
“We are now facing a critical moment in downtown Boca,” O’Rourke said.
The coming Brightline station, performing arts campus, Wildflower/Silver Palm parks and more restaurants “will have an immediate impact on our streets,” she said. “Now is the time to re-evaluate.”
The group, whose members include an architect, landscape architect, Florida Atlantic University professor of urban planning, traffic engineer, civil engineer, surveyor and Planning and Zoning Board member Larry Cellon, has not created a plan, Zachariades said.
“We need to see what the priorities of the residents are and figure out what we want to do,” she said.
Attendees were given green and red stickers to affix to a list of suggestions to show which ideas they liked or hated.
The “no change” option garnered a sea of red stickers and only two green ones. Wider sidewalks, shade trees, outdoor dining, bike lanes and crosswalks drew strong support. But on-street parking was panned.
A photo of a wide sidewalk with outdoor dining under lush trees was widely acclaimed, but several suggested crosswalk configurations met with disapproval. One proposal for public art got as many red stickers as green ones.
Asked directly what they wanted to see, residents offered few specifics. Beachside residents, however, made clear that they don’t want the number of lanes on the road reduced because they feared that would hamper evacuation during a hurricane.
One resident asked if road changes would increase development. Zachariades said the group does not want that outcome.
O’Rourke and Zachariades said the group will hold another session in April during which options for changing the road likely would be presented.
Once the group gets a clearer idea of what residents support, the information will be presented at the City Council’s annual goal-setting sessions in May with the intention of convincing council members to make this a priority for implementation.
How such a project would be financed is not yet known.
Also unknown is what the City Council might do.
In 2010, the Downtown Boca Raton Advisory Committee made proposals that the council did not accept.
More recently, momentum had been building for changes.
During City Council goal-setting last year, council members prioritized improving Palmetto Park Road east of the Intracoastal Waterway under strong prodding by Beachside residents who wanted better walkability and safety improvements. That section of the street, however, is controlled by the county, so the city can’t act on its own.
A more ambitious proposal made by O’Rourke did not gain majority approval. At that time, Zachariades, speaking out as a resident, pressed for changes along a longer stretch of the street.
Planning and Zoning Board members asked the City Council last year to improve the road design by adding bicycle lanes, enhanced landscaping and more shade trees, and by the possible elimination of some on-street parking and reducing travel lanes from four to two.
Cellon drew up a specific proposal that included two westbound lanes and eliminating an eastbound lane. The other eastbound lane would be replaced by a center lane reserved for emergency vehicles that could double as an evacuation lane in the event of hurricanes.
He also proposed raised bike lanes on both sides of the street, 10-foot-wide sidewalks and the addition of shade trees.
The City Council has not yet addressed Cellon’s plan.
The city has, however, added crosswalks with flashing lights along Palmetto Park Road.
Comments
Everyone deserves a chance to live in Boca, don't they? Just because we got here first doesn't mean we now restrict development, does it? If higher density housing is required to welcome people to downtown Boca, shouldn't we set aside our own biases and try to make it work?
To make an area walkable and inviting requires things to see and do...retail shops and restaurants with outdoor seating are likely to attract pedestrians. When they built Palmetto Promenade, the few retail stores...mostly still empty...are set far back, hard to see, and not very inviting. Amazingly, a similar project is proposed that will replace the shops and restaurants along Palmetto Park Road near Sanborn Square. It would be called Aletto Square. Rather than the restaurants and shops along that block, including Tucci's on NE 1st Ave, pedestrians will face walls 7 to 12 stories high. This is not the way to invite pedestrians and expect them to find solace and interest. Planning for a vision is a noble cause. But by the time that vision may be considered, it will be too late implement it. Delray Beach, along Atlantic Avenue, with all its traffic and noise, has consistently refused to put large office buildings along that path, keeping low buildings of retail and restaurants. It draws visitors and pedestrians because it offers something to see. I don't see how Boca can advertise "visit beautiful Palmetto Park Road to see office buildings, banks, and apartment buildings." Unless someone has a particular interest in concrete.