Median reconstruction on Royal Poinciana Way bumped into an obstacle this summer that could have led to traffic snarls at the start of the new season.
But a Town Council decision on Tuesday will resolve the problem without tying up traffic at the town’s busy northern gateway.
The two medians between North County Road and Bradley Place have been under construction for several months. The Garden Club of Palm Beach gave $575,000 toward the cost of the nearly $1 million beautification project, with SMI Landscape Architecture donating the design. The project includes a new grass surface, plants, trees, and pedestrian paths.
At issue at Tuesday’s council meeting was the type and cost of materials that will be used to build the paths.
A design approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which has oversight over the landmarked medians, called for using crushed stone, similar to the paths in nearby Bradley Park.
But Public Works Director Paul Brazil said the town submitted the project for construction bids with plans that called for cement pathways. Brazil apologized to the council for the miscommunication that he said led to the confusion.
Councilwoman Julie Araskog said the cement paths, which have not yet been built, would be “horribly unattractive.”
“We were all told it would be gravel,” she said. “We were all really happy with that.”
Brazil sought direction from the council over whether to stick with the bidded plan to build the cement pathways or revert to the original plan and use the crushed stone. The latter approach would cost an additional $131,000, bringing the overall project to $980,000.
Brazil said the cement paths could be completed by the November 1 construction deadline. He said the crushed stone paths could not be finished on both medians by that deadline. If stone paths are built, construction would have to be halted by November 1, then completed in the spring, to avoid traffic impacts. But that would mean the project would not meet its original schedule, which called for completion before the start of the season.
Town Manager Kirk Blouin and Mayor Danielle Moore both strongly recommended that the council not allow construction to continue past November 1.
“In my opinion, whatever you do, we cannot be doing construction on that median [after November 1] or every person in this town will string us up,” Moore said.
Brazil said that, if the council decided to go with the concrete paths, the project would have to go back to the landmarks commission at its September 17 meeting for approval because the plan currently approved by that board called for crushed stone.
If the council decided to go with the crushed stone, Brazil said, there would be enough material available to build a path on one of two medians before November. The path and final landscaping on the other median could be added in the spring.
Brittain Damgard, who chairs the landmarks commission, recommended the town stick with the plan approved by that commission, which determined that the crushed stone pathways were aesthetically superior. She saw no problem with buttoning up the site on November 1.
“I think it would be wonderful if one [path] got done or maybe no paths get done and it gets put into grass until next year, when it could be done properly,” she told the council. “It’s a very important project, it’s an important entrance to our town, why rush it with the wrong decision?”
The council voted 4-1 to approve the $131,000 to cover the additional cost of the crushed stone, and specified that work stop by November 1, then resume next spring.
“I always prefer permeable surfaces,” council President Bobbie Lindsay said. “And, in this case, also to keep it consistent with Bradley Park.”
Councilman Ted Cooney said aesthetics are especially important at such a visible location. “It’s a highly pedestrian street. This is something that people experience.”
Araskog dissented in the decision. In an interview later, she cited the cost of the project and said town staff earlier advised the council that the Poinciana medians makeover was not a high priority.
Councilman Lew Crampton said during the meeting, however, that finding the additional $131,000 would be easy.
“We are awash in cash,” Crampton said. “I mean, we’re drowning in money here and, therefore, the $131,000 … is not going to be a problem.”
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