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Hopefully, you enjoyed some time off, and your new year is off to a good start!
Gregg spent the holidays at home in West Palm Beach with family visiting from out of state, and now he's back at doing what he does best. So he’s been attending community events, including Sheriff Bradshaw’s Inaugural Picnic in Royal Palm Beach. He has also done two presentations about AI, including one for the Retired Educators Association of Palm Beach County. And he’s been thinking about pragmatic solutions that can help address problems our residents care about.
At the year’s first board meeting on January 7th, Gregg thanked staff for taking control of the stalled road projects we mentioned in the last newsletter. He also commended the Town of Palm Beach for its system of notifying residents by email or text about road closures (and re-openings), and he said he’d love to see the county adopt a similar approach to alerting residents of unexpected road closures.
Also at the meeting, Gregg noted the importance of communication and coordination between different agencies and departments that are doing road and construction projects that impact traffic. He said improving these areas is key to reducing traffic problems, and that if a project can’t be delayed or canceled, we need to do a better job of informing the public.
During our visit to the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Traffic Management Center in Ft. Lauderdale, we learned about FL511.com, an FDOT website that disseminates commuter information. Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, and other commuter apps use information from FL511 to reroute their app users when closures and other traffic disruptions happen. So it is important that area agencies report relevant information to FL511. Gregg shared this with the sheriff and our engineering department, encouraging them to report information to FL511 as often and early as possible.
Last Friday, Gregg wrote a letter to West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James and Police Chief Araujo asking them to have a police presence during morning and afternoon rush hour at the base of the Royal Palm Bridge, at the intersection of Okeechobee Boulevard and Flagler Drive to help manage traffic, just like the Town of Palm Beach has on its side of the bridge. Writing: ”The congestion during peak hours is increasingly problematic, leading to more instances of irresponsible driving behavior, such as blocking the box, which only exacerbates the gridlock. When vehicles block intersections in this manner, no one can move, further delaying traffic and creating additional frustration for commuters.” In an email response to Mayor James, on which our office was copied, Chief Araujo mentioned that he would consider directing patrols to certain traffic choke points to alleviate intersection blockage, provided that the resources to do so are available at that time. He added that the service delivery volume is much larger for the West Palm Beach Police department than for the Town’s.
While we’re talking about West Palm Beach, the city is updating its bicycle masterplan and is looking for your input as to how we can improve the bicycle experience. As part of this update, there are community meetings throughout the city and there’s a survey we hope you’ll fill out.
At the January 14th meeting, the board approved a proposal Gregg has worked on: bringing Adaptive Traffic Control Systems (ATCS) along Okeechobee Boulevard from I-95 to Flagler Drive. ATCS uses cameras and sensors to dynamically adjust traffic lights, to optimize the flow of traffic. On this stretch of roadway, 15 traffic signals will be managed by ATCS for a cost $2.8M, most of that cost coming from an FDOT grant. Planning will start in a month or two, with construction expected to begin in December, and completion a year later. Gregg expects that ATCS will improve traffic flow, reducing drive times and frustration for commuters entering and leaving the city. ATCS works best when there isn’t any gridlock, so its benefits will be greatest outside of rush hour. Because the Okeechobee corridor is so busy and has so many disruptors -- two railroad tracks, 15 lights, and a bridge -- it won’t be the “be-all, end-all,” but it sure is a great start, and something to look forward to.
Here's to a great 2025!
Thanks for being a reader.
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