Wednesday makes day 26 of a significant closure on the Town of Palm Beach.The U.S. Secret Service shut down parts of South Ocean Boulevard, also called State Road A1A, right near Mar-a-Lago on July 20.This was following the assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. The South Ocean Boulevard closure is about a mile long, from South County Road to the traffic circle where South Ocean Boulevard and Southern Boulevard meet. While the length of the closure may not seem like it’d have much of an impact on the community, during a town meeting Tuesday, town officials said the closure has made it at times impossible to get around on the island.They said the closure may even impact emergency response times."Our residents don't feel safe right now. It's hard to get a fire truck through. It's hard to get out of their homes. It's hard to get a caregiver in," one of the officials said.Palm Beach police Chief Nicholas Caristo said it’s going to be a continuous collaborative effort between the town, the City of West Palm Beach, and the county to make traffic conditions better — as he experienced firsthand earlier this week."It was impossible to get off the island. What we did is we called Palm Beach County traffic management, they tweaked all of the signals going through, and I'll say within 10 minutes, everything was flowing off the island,” Caristo said. The Town of Palm Beach sent a letter to the U.S. Secret Service last month asking for them to provide the legal authority authorizing them to implement the closure, especially when Trump is not in town, which is different from how the Secret Service has conducted their safety protocol in the past. The town says they’re waiting to hear back.In the meantime, Palm Beach police say they have a person staffed at the Mar-a-Lago command center 24 hours a day, so they can communicate with the Secret Service daily that way. The South Ocean Boulevard closure is expected to be in place until at least election day in November.Top headlines:Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25 Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
PALM BEACH, Fla. —
Wednesday makes day 26 of a significant closure on the Town of Palm Beach.
The U.S. Secret Service shut down parts of South Ocean Boulevard, also called State Road A1A, right near Mar-a-Lago on July 20.
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This was following the assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.
The South Ocean Boulevard closure is about a mile long, from South County Road to the traffic circle where South Ocean Boulevard and Southern Boulevard meet.
While the length of the closure may not seem like it’d have much of an impact on the community, during a town meeting Tuesday, town officials said the closure has made it at times impossible to get around on the island.
They said the closure may even impact emergency response times.
"Our residents don't feel safe right now. It's hard to get a fire truck through. It's hard to get out of their homes. It's hard to get a caregiver in," one of the officials said.
Palm Beach police Chief Nicholas Caristo said it’s going to be a continuous collaborative effort between the town, the City of West Palm Beach, and the county to make traffic conditions better — as he experienced firsthand earlier this week.
"It was impossible to get off the island. What we did is we called Palm Beach County traffic management, they tweaked all of the signals going through, and I'll say within 10 minutes, everything was flowing off the island,” Caristo said.
The Town of Palm Beach sent a letter to the U.S. Secret Service last month asking for them to provide the legal authority authorizing them to implement the closure, especially when Trump is not in town, which is different from how the Secret Service has conducted their safety protocol in the past.
The town says they’re waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, Palm Beach police say they have a person staffed at the Mar-a-Lago command center 24 hours a day, so they can communicate with the Secret Service daily that way.
The South Ocean Boulevard closure is expected to be in place until at least election day in November.
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Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25
Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
