February 2022 - OnGardens

Relief for U.S. 1 bridge two years away

FDOT pays for submerged land despite contentious fight over ownership of Earman River bottom.

The U.S. 1 bridge near Northlake Boulevard has been reduced to two lanes in each direction for more than four years since a 35-foot section of sidewalk and roadway plunged into the Earman River in October 2017.

The yearlong task of rebuilding the bridge won’t start until spring 2023.

Say goodbye to PGA eyesore: Old DMV building torn down after 44 years

It’s been four years since Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon announced she would replace the building with one 10 times its size.

It’s gone.

February 2022 is the month that the ugliest building in Palm Beach Gardens got torn down.

Who will represent Palm Beach Gardens? Are two state House members better than one?

Is it better to have two state House members and two state senators answering to the same community? Or does that water down representation? Gardens will soon find out.

Some of the biggest western communities in Palm Beach Gardens, including PGA National, Mirasol and Avenir, would be severed from the city and lumped into a sprawling state House district spanning the Glades and The Acreage, under a House map approved Feb. 3.

Those same communities, plus Old Palm and Ballenisles, would be separated from the city in a Senate map change that would replace the city’s lone state senator, Bobby Powell, with two.

No flyover? No problem. FDOT says U-turn solution better

Residents fear nearly complete design at Northlake-Beeline intersection could become a chokepoint to The Acreage, Avenir, other western communities.

U-turns and a newfangled left-turn lane at the Northlake-Beeline intersection will do a better job of moving traffic smoothly and safely than a flyover, FDOT officials said Wednesday during a community Zoom meeting.

Not everyone at the meeting was convinced.

Anonymous website attacks Alton hospital

“WHAT THEY’RE PLANNING WILL RUIN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!” Builder disputes claims. Neighbors say it didn’t come from them.

Emergency vehicle sirens blaring 24/7. A 450-bed hospital plus more than 1 million square feet of medical office space, enough to fill six-and-a-half “super centers.” And 26,687 daily car trips coming to “our neighborhood.”

“THIS AFFECTS YOU!” screams the website SaveAlton.com, which is attacking UHS’ plans for a hospital on 32 acres in Alton near Donald Ross Road and Interstate 95. “WHAT THEY’RE PLANNING WILL RUIN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!”