Boca Raton and experts team up to reenvision Palmetto Park Road

Yahoo

09-04-2025

Safety improvements may soon be coming to one of Boca Raton's main roads as development and growth progresses in the city.
Palmetto Park Road, which some concerned residents have even likened to a highway, could undergo enhanced and raised intersections, landscape buffers, high visibility and raised crosswalks, curb extensions, green paint for increased cyclist visibility and 'street furniture,' which could be benches, trees and public art, according to documents from the city of Boca Raton.
City officials are now working with Speck Dempsey, a group that assists cities with walkability studies, transit-oriented developments, downtown areas, street networks, buildings and landscapes, new towns and neighborhoods, and urban and suburban infill, according to Speck Dempsey's website. The group is now putting together a design for the city of Boca Raton.
Jeff Speck, the co-founder of Speck Dempsey, said during a public city meeting on Monday that the firm 'does the full range of urban planning work from regional planning to architecture actually, but if we have a sweet spot, it is definitely this category of streets and networks.'
Alia Awwad, a principal with Alta Planning and Design, a firm that has analyzed traffic effects in the city, said Boca Raton is continuing the process of street improvement by bringing on Speck Dempsey.
'(We) look forward to continuing to work with you all to really dig deeper into the design elements of the future of the corridor, and then we're really excited about what's happening in downtown including the campus master plan,' Awwad said during Monday's meeting.
Speck called streets the main impediment to making 'great places' in most cities.
'Most American potentially walkable places are already useful, comfortable and interesting, but they're not safe,' he said.
In pictures from previous projects completed by Speck Dempsey, sidewalks and bike lanes are the emphasis, not the road space for cars. The projects also feature places for pedestrians to gather, such as sites for games and shaded places to sit.
Speck Dempsey also plans to integrate the safety improvements in a way that will be in harmony with the government campus plan, which is a project bringing new government facilities, homes, shops and places to eat along Palmetto Park Road.
Boca Raton City Council members want the changes to be more than just street improvements. Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas said the city is seeking a 'sense of place' and 'a landmark for our city.'
Andrea O'Rourke is a former City Council member and also a member of the citizen collective Workshop 344+, which aims to enhance the city's pedestrian experience through connectivity. She said she and the other Workshop 344+ members are very happy to welcome Speck as a consultant and thanked the City Council for 'getting this finally done.'
'Workshop 344 has always been about connecting the dots in downtown Boca for more walkability, to be safe and have a memorable main street,' O'Rourke said during Monday's meeting.
However, O'Rourke said the Workshop 344+ group felt ignored by the City Council after previously bringing forward 'creative, thoughtful, bold, iconic ideas' and being 'met with silence.'
'I will ask you to please foster space where the community voice feels that they are heard and/or at least acknowledged,' O'Rourke said. 'Traffic is not safe. It's unpleasant and frankly it's scary, and it's not good for business and it's not good for the community. Right now we have a highway cutting through what should be the heart of our downtown.'
A design charrette will be held in the future so that the public may provide input.
'Community input is important to us both from the government0center perspective and obviously from Palmetto Park Road, so the more that we engage the community is always good,' Council member Yvette Drucker said.