Recently you may have noticed a massive Palm Beach Gardens police presence on Northlake Blvd. near Coconut. I have recently learned that in a secret meeting between Palm Beach County and Palm Beach Gardens, the county effectively gave our road, all the way to Grapeview, to Palm Beach Gardens.
Within days of the agreement, Palm Beach Gardens began passing out speeding tickets by the bucketful and using Acreage residents as their own private ATM in the name of “safety.” I noticed that they seem seriously concerned about Acreage residents’ “safety,” but could care less about the “safety” of people who live west of Coconut. There is only one permanently installed automated speed trap sign on the entire length of Northlake, and it’s in The Acreage.
Because of this, people are driving much slower on Northlake, causing the road to be far more congested and more unsafe than usual. As such, the legal speed limit of the road needs to be raised to 80 mph in order to move traffic efficiently.
Scientific studies have been performed by FDOT and NHTSA showing that driving above the speed limit at the same speed as other traffic is considerably safer than driving the exact limit. In fact, when the states raised their speed limits from 55 mph to 70-plus mph, they saw a decrease in traffic fatalities. So, in the name of “safety,” Palm Beach Gardens is going to get a lot of Acreage residents killed.
Palm Beach County still has some authority over the road. I have contacted [County Commissioner] Melissa McKinlay and demanded the speed limit be raised to 80 mph. I would encourage everyone else who is unhappy with the situation to do the same.
Dennis Hawkins, The Acreage
