South Ocean Boulevard near former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate will be closed to through-traffic, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the November 5 general election “at a minimum,” the Town of Palm Beach announced in a news alert Thursday afternoon.
The closure takes effect at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 20.
The decision was made “due to enhanced security measures involving Mar-a-Lago and U.S. Secret Service-protected persons,” the town said in the alert.
The closure will involve the area from Woodbridge Road to South Ocean Boulevard at the traffic circle where Southern Boulevard and South Ocean Boulevard connect.
South Ocean Boulevard is the only road that directly links Palm Beach’s North End and Midtown with the southern portion of the town.
“The Palm Beach Police Department will be incorporating and planning for increased traffic mitigation efforts due to this closure,” the town said. “We will update the community with further details on this closure as they become available.”
Update
The announcement came just hours before Trump, the Republican nominee for president in the November election, was scheduled to speak on the final night of his party’s convention in Milwaukee, Wis.
Trump was shot and wounded on Saturday while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Penn. One person died and two others were also injured in the shooting. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by Secret Service.
Michael Reiter, retired Palm Beach police chief and founder of a locally based global security advisory firm, said the South Ocean Boulevard road closure is understandable.
“While the road closure around Mar-a-Lago is certainly an inconvenience, it is reasonable given the circumstances,” said Reiter, who is a member of the Palm Beach Civic Association’s Executive Committee. “We will all need to add additional time to our travels to avoid the area and that is worthwhile to reduce the chance of something unthinkable occurring in our community.”
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