By Brian Biggane
New South Palm Beach Town Council member Sandy Beckett wasted no time using her influence on the governing body, joining with Vice Mayor Monte Berendes and others to defeat a proposal designed to bring about a crosswalk just south of the town’s border with Lantana.
The proposal would have allocated $11,000 to have engineers put together a design for the crosswalk, which would have been located about 500 feet north of the corner of Ocean Avenue and South Ocean Boulevard, where a crosswalk and traffic light are located.
“I have reservations about doing it,” Berendes said. “I think it’s a waste of our money.
“If we’re going to do that, we should maybe spend more and put it in the middle of the town somewhere.”
Beckett concurred. She was sworn in by Mayor Bonnie Fischer at the start of the meeting last month to become the fifth council member.
“That isn’t going to really solve the problems of safety,” Beckett said. “I’m not sure what good it would do.”
The vote was 4-1, with only Council member Ray McMillan supporting the proposal.
Fischer was once a supporter of the plan, too. “I was initially for it but realized even if we had a crosswalk, it would be treacherous for people to walk north from there because there’s no sidewalk. So, I voted against it,” she said.
The long-simmering debate about a crosswalk intensified after resident Hatixhe Laiqi was killed while crossing State Road A1A in November 2023. Last January, Florida Department of Transportation official Jonathan Overton spoke before an overflow crowd at Town Hall and promised to address the issue as best he could.
FDOT subsequently lowered the town speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph and installed signage urging caution, while Fischer and Town Manager Jamie Titcomb entered discussions with Lantana Town Manager Brian Raducci about pursuing a location for the crosswalk.
Since the town owns no land other than the Town Hall property, it was determined the only feasible site would be the north end of the Lantana public beach. But even there would require a sidewalk be built on the east side of the road, as FDOT requires a crosswalk to run to and from sidewalks on both sides of the road.
Fischer said one alternative is to have FDOT redesign the road and add a sidewalk on the east side, but that her conversations with Overton have led her to believe that wouldn’t take place for several years at least.
For now, that leaves the crosswalk at the corner where Ocean Avenue meets A1A as the closest to town, and both council members and residents insisted that corner is far from safe.
“Where that crosswalk is now is very dangerous,” Fischer said. “I’m sure we’ve all had a situation where you try to turn and people come in front of you. I’m surprised there haven’t been more accidents.”
Fischer recalled that when the building housing the Hawaiian Inn was up for sale the town had an opportunity to buy it and thus would have had the land to build a crosswalk. Instead, the building was bought and renovated and is now the 3550 Condominium.
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