State Road 7 In Trouble---Again
December 9, 2014
The residents of WPB are extremely resilient, as they must be, due to the fact they are in for another disappointment by city leaders. The much needed and anticipated extension of State Road 7 which would help alleviate congestion in the western communities is once again put on hold until 2020.
Mayor Muoio, who resides in Ibis which is next door to the planned extension, and city commissioners who vote to spend city taxes, have hired attorney’s and lobbyist to fight the extension. How many thousands of your tax dollars have already been wasted on a project that will eventually be built. How many more million’s will we pay 4 years from now, because the price will go up, as it always does. Think about this when your stuck in a traffic jam, with to many cars and not enough road.
The mayor has used the excuse the extension could damage the city’s water supply drawn from Grassy Waters Preserve. She has a fear of a car driving into the water and contaminating our drinking water. If they didn’t waste our money on lawyer’s and lobbyist for four years fighting to stop the project they could have used that money to build barrier’s between the road and water supply.
Another water source used by the city is Clear Lake, and car’s have ended up in our drinking water when driver’s mistook it for a car wash. So here’s my question. Was the Clear Lake contaminated and the city failed to warn us, or does the mayor find the fear of contamination an unreasonable excuse for keeping the project from her neighborhood?
The Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) which consist of 11 members, and you can see the list below, met to discuss the project. After being told of the delay, 9 of the 11 members choose to file a formal objection with the state. Two commissioners, City Commissioner Keith James, and County Commissioner Paulette Burdick apparently are A-OK with the delay because they both voted not to object.
The WPB western communities do not want this extension to happen. The WPB western communities vote. Is there a fear of not being re-elected if they don’t toe the line and once again give the west what they demand. Judge for yourself.
Read the PB Post story here and see the list of MPO committee members below. Maybe take a minute to thank them for their vote, and ask the 2 commission’s why they voted the way they did.
Name Title/ Representing Contact Information
Susan Haynie Mayor / City of Boca Raton (561) 393-7708
Hal Valeche PBC Commissioner (561) 355-2201
Mary Lou Berger PBC Commissioner (561) 355-2205
Paulette Burdick PBC Commissioner/Vice Mayor (561) 355-2202
Judy L. Davis Councilwoman/Riviera Beach (561) 845-3464
Michael Fitzpatrick Commissioner/Boynton Beach (561) 742-6010
Gary Glickstein Mayor/Delray Beach (561) 243-7000
Wendy Harrison Councilor/Jupiter (561) 741-2214
Eric Jablin Vice Mayor/Palm Beach Gardens (561) 799-4102
Keith A. James Commissioner/WPB (561) 822-1390
Shanon Materio Commissioner/WPB (561) 822-1390