If you have ever wondered whether your voice matters, let me respond with an emphatic YES.  Many of our public projects begin through resident input.  Your phone calls, emails and letters about issues you are experiencing in the community initiate research, and many times result in recommendations for improvements.

As engaged members of the community, you serve as the eyes and ears that help alert your county officials to matters needing attention.  Whether it is a traffic problem, uncollected trash, missing street signs, or a blocked drainage culvert, we appreciate the assistance residents provide in reporting these types of conditions.  With a county in excess of 2,300 square miles in area, county staff cannot possibly provide enough coverage to drive up and down every street to note items needing correction.  To complement our regular maintenance of facilities under our purview, your participation helps direct our crews and field representatives to locations needing immediate attention.

To give you an idea of how resident input matters, the following District 1 projects are progressing or in the process of completion, thanks to information received from the public:

• Traffic counts taken at the urging of neighboring residents indicated the need to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Toney Penna Drive and Central Boulevard in Jupiter.
• A traffic study performed on Beach Road in the area of Coral Cove Park resulted in a recommendation to lower the speed limit and install marked pedestrian crossings.  After further discussions I held with Parks and Engineering staff, we agreed to move forward with additional parallel parking improvements.
• The installation of a traffic signal at Northlake Boulevard and Ancient Tree Drive/Bay Hill Drive in the city of Palm Beach Gardens.
• Repair/replacement of sidewalk sections in the Roan Lane neighborhood in unincorporated Lake Park.
• Bike lanes, funded under a transportation grant program are in the planning stage for future installation along Prosperity Farms Road, between Northlake Boulevard and Donald Ross Road.
• Enhanced pedestrian crossings at 25 locations along A1A/Ocean Drive in Jupiter and Juno Beach will include pedestrian-activated flashing lights for safer crossing and to better alert drivers.  Installation will commence in 2022.
• Neighborhood organizations in Jupiter Farms and Palm Beach Country Estates participated extensively in the process to develop Unified Land Development Code amendments related to community residences for the disabled.
• The North County Neighborhood Coalition is working closely with government and transportation officials on future improvements along the Beeline Highway and Northlake Boulevard corridors.

Thank you for helping your county government improve our quality of life, and as always, please contact me if I can be of assistance to you by calling 561-355-2201, or by email to mmarino@pbcgov.org.
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