This means that regardless of political party affiliation, if a registered voter lives in either District 1 or District 5, they may vote for one of the candidates.

If a candidate in either race receives more than 50% of the votes, they automatically secure a win. If no one gets more than 50%, then the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the November election.

Once elected, the two new board members will serve four-year terms and receive a salary of $53,407. Issues that bubbled to the surface during campaigning include school safety measures, such metal detectors, teacher pay, the state’s new law mandating later start times and how to maintain an A-rating.

Here’s what to know about each race and candidate.

District 1

District 1, which represents the northern part of the county with cities including Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter and Tequesta, is currently represented by Barbara McQuinn.

McQuinn will be replaced by either Matthew Jay Lane, Page Lewis or Francesca Wernisch.

Lane, 69, is a former Palm Beach Gardens city councilmember with a family and divorce law firm. According to his Sun Sentinel questionnaire, his priorities are ensuring teachers get paid enough and that students learn “the fundamentals.”

Lewis, 57, currently helps children learn how to read and believes the district’s success relies on students having a firm grasp on the essentials of reading, writing and arithmetic, according to her questionnaire.

Wernisch, 39, has young children currently in the school district and similarly advocates for “early learning” and improving teacher recruitment and professional development.

District 5

The District 5 race, which includes all the schools in Boca Raton and West Boca, is one of the county’s most crowded races with five candidates vying for the spot.

The winner will replace Frank Barbieri Jr., who has served in Seat 5 since 2008.

Gloria Branch, 56, is a more than 40-year Boca Raton resident and current substitute teacher with a desire to “shed the remnants of equity and woke ideology,” according to her questionnaire, and invest resources in teacher pay and the classroom.

Mindy Koch, 71, has spent more than 40 years either in teaching, administration or as a special education coordinator. According to her questionnaire, she wants the district to home in on reading and math for pre-K through third-grade students.

Mike Letsky, 47, is the founder of FutureGen Robotics. He said he wants students to have more in-person instruction and believes there are better ways to make schools safer, such as installing cameras with artificial intelligence.

Suzanne Page, 73, crafted a five-step educational reform plan outlined on her website that includes detailed steps for elementary, middle, high school students and teachers.

Charman Postel, 37, is a consultant and substitute teacher with four children currently attending school in the district. To keep the district’s A rating, Postel said in her questionnaire she would advocate for “curriculum enhancements, professional development for teachers and increased support.”

Voting

Early voting will be available until 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, then Election Day is Tuesday, Aug. 20. The general election will take place on Nov. 5.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link welcomed Trump at the main office in West Palm Beach, and supervisor of elections spokeswoman Alison Novoa said Trump’s visit went smoothly.

Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, cast his early vote before traveling to Asheville, North Carolina, for a campaign rally. He told reporters he would be focusing his speech at the rally on the economy. He’s criticized the Biden administration for the rampant inflation, but a report Wednesday showed continuing signs that inflation is slowing down.

When asked about the FBI’s investigation into the alleged hacking of his campaign, Trump accused Iran of being behind it.

“They are looking at it, and they are doing it very professionally,” he said. “It looks like it’s Iran doing it. And the reason is because I was strong in Iran, and I was protecting people in the Middle East, and maybe they aren’t so happy about that.”

Trump said he did not want to say whether the information came from the FBI.

Early voting has been underway in Palm Beach and Broward counties for the Florida primary and nonpartisan races. The races include those for sheriff, School Board members, judges and supervisor of elections for both Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Early voting is being held through 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18. A photo ID is required to cast a vote. Tuesday, Aug. 20, is Election Day.

You can find your precinct location on the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website, votepalmbeach.gov. Similarly, the Broward County Supervisor of Elections website, browardvotes.gov, also contains precinct information.

Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this news article. 

“Things are running smoothly,” Schools Superintendent Michael Burke said. “All the hard work this summer that our team did is paying off with the great opening of the new school year.”

There were some concerns about school buses not arriving, as well as a power outage, as Burke visited five schools on Monday: Grove Park Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens, Hagen Road Elementary School in Boynton Beach, Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Plumosa School of the Arts in Delray Beach and Palm Springs Middle School in Palm Springs.

At Plumosa School, Burke asked second-grader Jaxon Barnes what he thought of Burke’s first-day-of-school outfit. Jaxon replied that the superintendent’s new suit and shoes were “pretty spiffy.”

Plumosa recently made the jump from being a C-rated school to an A-rated one.

The Palm Beach County School District also went up a letter grade to an A. “We feel like we have a lot of positive momentum going into this school year, and we’re going to keep building on that success,” Burke said. That’s up from the B-rating it had in the 2022-23 school year.

During the 2023-24 school year, courses such as AP Psychology were threatened by the state law, and metal detectors were tested for the first time. But nearly 60 schools also improved one or more letter grade, and 131 schools earned an A or B grade, according to the district.

Unlike in Broward County schools, where the launch of metal detectors at high schools led to, in some cases, students waiting more than an hour outside to get into school and missing class, Burke said Palm Beach County’s schools didn’t experience any significant issues with metal detectors on Monday.

“I’m glad that we took the methodical approach last year, and we kind of rolled this out slowly, you know, week by week, school by school,” Burke said. “That made for a really seamless arrival today at our schools.”

There were a few issues, though. Forrest Hill Community High School lost power for about two hours, according to Florida Power & Light. Some buses experienced delays or didn’t show up at route stops at all, but these issues are generally expected for “about the first week,” Burke said.

On a Facebook post made by the School District of Palm Beach County account on Monday welcoming parents and students back to school, users expressed a mixture of frustration and excitement about the first day.

“Why didn’t the school buses show up?? Bus C059!!! What is going on?!!! Can’t even get through to the bus call center! This is ridiculous,” one user wrote.

Another user said their son’s bus also didn’t arrive, leaving them to take him to school.

“I know it’s the first day but please fix so they come tomorrow,” the user wrote.

In a reply to a comment, the school district account wrote the Here Comes the Bus app, which allows parents to see where their child’s bus is, will not be running for two weeks. Instead, the school district wrote parents should call the Transportation Call Center at 561-357-1110 with any questions.

During Burke’s visit at Spanish River High School, he asked a class full of students, “Are you guys excited to be back?”

Only one student chimed in with a “yes,” which was met with laughter by district officials, including School Board member Frank Barbieri.

Excitement was more palpable among the younger students, particularly Jaxon, who regaled Burke with the details of the lunch he’d brought to school that day: a sandwich, carrots with ranch and Doritos.

“I hope everyone will have a great school year because I know I am,” Jaxon said.

The candidates, Bobby Powell Jr. and Richard A. Ryles, are running for District 7, which includes cities such as Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lantana, Hypoluxo, Riviera Beach, Mangonia Park and Lake Park.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary will then appear on the November general election ballot alongside the other District 7 candidate, Republican Leonard L. Serratore. Two other people, Boaz Fleurena and Javonta Jerome Taylor, are both write-in candidates for the November election.

The winner of the November election will replace District 7’s current Commissioner Mack Bernard. The District 7 seat is one of three openings on the County Commission this election year.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel interviewed the two District 7 candidates who will appear in the primary. Powell and Ryles are the only candidates who will be on the ballot during this year’s primary election — no Republican candidates for any of the open commission seats will appear on the August ballot, only on the November ballot.

Among the key issues for the county include affordability, incomes, and how to balance smart development along with the county’s growth.

Since 2016, Powell has served as a state senator representing cities in the county and served on various committees, with work in the senate centering largely around gun safety reforms, health care and criminal justice reform. Ryles is a practicing attorney and former city of West Palm Beach commissioner, which he said means he “understands the running of a municipal operation.”

As for why Powell wants to be on the commission, he said he believes in a “life of service,” and being on the commission would add to what he said has been years of community involvement.

“There is no one who’s more prepared and who will work harder for this community,” Powell said.

For Ryles, he said his work “in and out of government has been serving the people,” which best qualifies him for the position, adding he has the experience necessary to “provide creative solutions and alternatives in order to address the issues that are burdensome on the citizenry of Palm Beach County.”

One of these burdens is the gap between livable wages, and wages paid by the county and industries within the county, which need to be fixed, he said.

“I am an advocate of paying livable wages, but I’m also an advocate of providing the training necessary for people to have the type of jobs that will allow them to earn livable wages,” Ryles said.

Outside of his experience as a senator, Powell said he believes his work as an urban planner will equip him to adequately deal with county issues such as cost of living, development and transportation.

“Any proposed developments that I do support or do not support moving forward have to fit into the fabric of our community and within the guidelines of what this community looks like,” he said. This also includes being mindful of development on the county’s Ag Reserve, a swath of more than 20,000 acres of farmland in the southwestern part of the county, he said.

Stopping growth in Florida is not possible, he said, but managing it can be conducted well.

“We have to make sure that when we are growing, we’re doing so in a manner that’s effective and efficient,” he said.

Similar to Powell, Ryles said he has always “been a proponent of maintaining the sanctity of the Ag Reserve” throughout his career as well as representing neighborhoods in the district consisting mainly of minority populations.

“I do believe that the overdevelopment that is occurring, on the coast especially, is negatively impacting the the Greater Northwest and the African-American neighborhoods,” he said. “So I, having been a proponent and having grown up in District 7, would do everything in my power in order to make development more equitable and to reduce the negative impact that is currently occurring.”

Smart growth, though, also needs to be coupled with addressing the high cost of housing, Powell said, which the county should continue to do by allocating the remainder of the $200 million affordable housing bond.

County officials need to work on ensuring there are enough equitable employment and housing opportunities for all, he said, but other than that: “We’ve got beautiful weather, we’ve got beautiful opportunities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ryles said diversity is both the county’s greatest strength and greatest weakness.

“Our diversity is why people would want to come here,” he said. “You can get a touch of the cultures of Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, all over Central America, the Caribbean. Our worst attribute is our failure to capitalize on that diversity and exclusion of those communities from participating meaningfully in most aspects of life here in Palm Beach County.”

District 7 candidate Republican Leonard L. Serratore told the Sun Sentinel he is a veteran who formerly worked at the Palm Beach International Airport. He’s looking ahead to the November election: Similar to his opponents, he believes the county’s cost of living is too high, making it hard for people to enjoy the county’s beaches and parks, which he said are the county’s best attribute.

Serratore said he is a “true public servant” who wants to give people choice.

Boaz Fleurena and Javonta Jerome Taylor could not be reached for comment.

Aug. 20 election need-to-knows

Anyone who wants to receive a mail-in ballot for the upcoming election must make have a request filed with the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections office by 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8.

Otherwise, registered Republicans and Democrats can vote in-person on Tuesday, Aug. 20. Republican ballots will not have any County Commission races until November.

Contests in November

The Palm Beach County Commission candidates for District 3 and District 5 also will appear on the November ballot.

In District 3, incumbent Republican Michael Barnett will go against Democrat Joel Flores.

For District 5, the current county mayor, Maria Sachs, a Democrat, will face off with Republican John Fischer.

The new tax rate will be about 5.91 instead of 6.36, the current tax rate. This means residents would save about $67 a year per $300,000 in taxable property value, or about $5 a month. A resident with a home worth $600,000 would save about $12 a month, according to city officials.

Counties and cities across Florida, including Delray Beach, are discussing how to carry out budgets for the next fiscal year, which includes setting property tax rates. The new budget year for 2025 will begin on Oct. 1.

Those newly elected in March — Mayor Tom Carney, Vice Mayor Juli Casale and commissioner Tom Markert — voted to support the reduction. They said they want to provide residents and businesses with some relief and rely instead on “creative solutions” to fund city services.

“I like to cut taxes,” Carney said during a meeting. “I ran on it, and everybody I spoke to said, ‘Would you please cut taxes?'”

Here’s how some of the city’s services could be affected, according to Delray Beach department leaders:

— The fire rescue department could have to increase its response times and could need to reduce staffing and training as well as rely more on Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

— The police department could freeze hiring, reduce its “investigative services” and reduce repairs and maintenance to equipment.

— The parks and recreation department could reduce special events and concerts and could have to reduce repair and maintenance to buildings and playgrounds.

— The public works department could have to reduce repairs to street lighting, traffic operations, and street and building maintenance.

But Carney and Casale said the city could find other ways to generate revenue.

Casale suggested the city start charging non-residents $35 to park at the beach, for example. “Let us monetize our assets and give the residents a little bit of a break,” she said during the meeting.

Carney said he doesn’t believe the fire rescue department or the police department would reduce its level of service if they were operating with less money.

“I just don’t buy that because you guys are too proud, and I know darn well you comply, someone makes a call, you will be there,” he said. “I believe it and the same with the police department, you guys do great work.”

Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns, who both voted against the proposed tax rate reduction, took issue with the idea that the departments could be stretched thinner, especially when residents won’t be saving that much money every month.

“There is no scenario where we can have our cake and eat it too,” Long said.

Long wondered if it could lead to an increase in crime, which Police Chief Russ Mager addressed.

“If you cut my budget, it does not allow for me to do what I want to do and what’s necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our police department,” Mager said.

The commission will meet again in August to discuss more of the details surrounding the reduction. Public hearings will be held on Sept. 3 and Sept. 16 to discuss the city’s overall budget.

That’s because he’s on a running waitlist for High-5 Basketball, a program designed to create opportunities for athletes with special needs. Nick D’Angelo’s younger brother, Chris D’Angelo, believes that problem could be addressed with more indoor court space, specifically by bringing another multi-use sports facility to Boca Raton.

Chris D’Angelo, 16, and Delaney Beighley, 17, both students at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, are pushing for a new indoor sports facility in the city, saying it will address the needs of all residents, including people in programs such as High-5, where Beighley volunteers, and the club they founded, Athletes Without Limits. They’ve grabbed some attention: City officials say they are looking at how to make that a reality.

One option could be through the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which is making progress on the city’s former Ocean Breeze golf course, or North Park. The site has sat untouched for the last few years as the district has sought to determine what to do with the hundreds of acres at Boca Teeca between Federal Highway and Interstate 95.

District Executive Director Briann Harms said plans are progressing for what’s to come on the east side of the site, and the district is moving forward with bringing amenities such as indoor pickleball courts, walking trails, playgrounds, a community garden, covered picnic areas and a dog park.

Harms said the district is paying off debt to the city owed for 170 acres of land on the west side of the site, which is hoped to be completed around 2026. Once that happens, what rises there could become open for input.

Enter Beighley and D’Angelo, who initially went before the City Council in February to request more indoor recreational space for all residents.

Councilmembers were receptive to the idea, and commended the pair for their passion. City Councilmember Andy Thomson has particularly latched onto the idea.

As a former Boca Hoops coach, he said he has seen the need for more indoor court space for years. The city should have “world-class recreational facilities of all kinds,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Besides Sugar Sand Park along Military Trail, city-owned indoor rec opportunities are sparse. The city also used to collaborate with schools to use indoor school facilities, but that diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beighley and D’Angelo told the Sun Sentinel that playing sports outside, especially during the summer, isn’t always an option — it’s either dangerously hot or raining, making it unsafe for organizations such as High-5, which have to compete with other organizations to play at Sugar Sand Park.

Nearly 100 people are members of High-5, including Nick D’Angelo’s girlfriend, Haley Norman, so there is no shortage of people interested in playing or being a “buddy,” which is the role Beighley plays.

“If we just had that little piece of recreational space, we could get this thing going, we can make all the kids who have special needs or disabilities in Boca Raton have that,” Chris D’Angelo said.

Beighley and D’Angelo’s vision isn’t only limited to any one sport or group of people, though — they see a facility with all types of sports for people of varying abilities.

The district “has the plot of land” at Boca Teeca, D’Angelo pointed out. “But then again … it would just be great to have it,” he said.

And it could benefit more than just Boca’s athletes — Beighley and D’Angelo said the city would reap an economic benefit by investing in a new facility.

Beighley competes in basketball tournaments around the country and sees fully booked hotels and packed restaurants in the cities where tournaments are held — when she recently competed in Louisville, Kentucky, Beighley said they couldn’t get into a restaurant because all were too full.

“We’re showing (city officials) the need for it and how it could be beneficial,” Beighley said.

Mayor Scott Singer said as city officials look to re-envision the City Hall site along Palmetto Park Road, other needs are being considered as well.

“I hope the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District proceeds with plans, and we will continue to as well,” he said. “I would be an indoor rec user myself.”

The owner of Palmetto Park Square views it as an investment, including by adding a new, larger Publix, accommodating new housing and improving road and pedestrian access. The idea, still in the early stages, already has drawn opposition: Some neighbors say they worry it could affect property values and add more traffic.

The plaza is just east of Interstate 95, off West Palmetto Park Road. The hodgepodge center features a pre-existing Publix, YouFit Gyms, a dentist, a Keke’s Breakfast Cafe and a long-defunct Kmart building.

In preliminary plans submitted to the city, Selig Enterprises is considering bringing more than 300 rental residences to the area, with some allotted as workforce housing, and relocating the current Publix to where the Kmart used to be. According to its website, Selig also wants to bring “a mix of local and national retail tenants.”

Renderings and graphics of the proposal depict the residences and shops in a classic architectural style with arched entryways, columns and light colors. The new Publix could be moved to the west of the plaza, leaving room for the residences to rise on the east side of the plaza.

Drawing concerns

The plan likely has months before it will be considered by the City Council. That has led some Boca Raton homeowners, especially those who live near the plaza, feeling worried that adding rental units would lower their property values and increase traffic.

“This area contains homes with property values around, nearing and above $1 million. It’s taken a long time to get there,” said Laurie Colbert, whose home nearly abuts the plaza, during a city workshop on July 22. “These are rentals, and tenants don’t have a vested interest in maintaining the quality of life that we’re accustomed to and rentals by nature, bring a transient element.”

“This plaza is surrounded by single-family communities who have supported the plaza businesses for years, if not decades,” Colbert said.

She also called traffic a “nightmare” and worries adding rentals will only “exacerbate the congestion and create more hazards” as drivers have to make a U-turn leaving the plaza if they want to go east on Palmetto Park Road.

Roger Kline, another Boca Raton resident, questioned how the city’s infrastructure — police, fire rescue and schools — would support the people who could move into the rental residences.

“As more people discovered our paradise, more people have wanted in to this community,” he said during the workshop, adding: “The community feel is starting to waver. Traffic seems to be getting worse. Our schools, even the new ones, seem to be overflowing.”

Nearby schools in the area include Addison Mizner School and Boca Raton Community Middle School. As of February enrollment numbers for the 2023-24 school year, including pre-Kindergarten, Addison Mizner School slightly exceeded its 1,177 capacity, but Boca Raton Community Middle School remained more than 200 students under capacity.

A plaza for decades

Selig has owned Palmetto Park Square for more than 40 years, though some of the buildings, such as the Chik-fil-A and the Denny’s, are not included in Selig’s ownership.

Cliff Hertz, the attorney representing Selig at the recent city workshop, said the proposal is “strictly a draft to provoke some conversation.”

“All we’re asking is to continue this discussion,” Hertz said to council members.

Selig declined to comment, but in an emailed statement, Hunter Lainhart, a member of the development team, said Selig is “excited about the possibility of a significant investment to improve the property.”

“We are currently in the early planning phases that would contemplate a new and larger Publix, improvements to existing shops and the addition of for-rent residences along with more thoughtful road and pedestrian access throughout.

“Our top priority is to be good stewards to the community in putting forth a vision that will benefit the area for years to come. We look forward to sharing more details about the project as soon as possible.”

Traffic will be considered

In an interview with the Sun Sentinel before the July 22 workshop, City Councilmember Marc Wigder explained that the city is still several months away from potential approval.

“We have to consider traffic, we have to consider all of those things,” he said. “This is a special center, this is the community retail center. Everyone is in favor of something nice happening there. They want the community shopping experience to be there.”

During the workshop, Wigder emphasized the need for the area to undergo a “significant traffic study” before moving forward.

The proposed plan appears to include “pedestrian circulation,” which could enhance walkability.

Bonnie Miskel, an attorney specializing in land use and zoning, said that in general, producing residential where retail already exists is successful, especially in South Florida. She is not involved in the Palmetto Park Square plaza project.

Ideally, creating a mixed-use development with homes could actually take trips off the road, Miskel said.

“You walk downstairs, you grab a cup of coffee instead of driving to Starbucks,” she said.

The current plaza is a “sleepy center,” Miskel said, so change may seem daunting to the surrounding homeowners. But she also said she’s seen mixed-use play out well, citing the Park at Broken Sound at the intersection of Clint Moore Road and Congress Avenue in Boca Raton.

The 700-acre campus combines corporations, homes, shops and dining options, leaning into the “live, work, play” approach that Boca Raton has long embraced.

Either way, city officials are moving forward carefully with Palmetto Park Square, perpetually trying to strike a balance among all interests.

“Community collaboration and working with the community is very important in this area,” Fran Nachlas, another city councilmember, said during the workshop. “I hope that’s how it will move forward.”

Whether a driver is trying to go south on Interstate 95 toward Miami or north toward West Palm Beach, they only have one light before getting onto an on-ramp.

That’s one of the differences diverging diamond interchanges have in comparison with more conventional intersections. They may seem wacky at first — so much so that first-time users may feel as though they are about to drive on the wrong side of the road. But the Florida Department of Transportation is bringing more of these configurations to South Florida over the next several years.

The first one in Palm Beach County was completed a little more than a year ago at I-95 and Glades Road. Four more of them are planned in the county over the next several years, with the next one set to start construction at I-95 and Lantana Road. Broward and Miami-Dade counties also have DDI’s in the works.

FDOT says these interchanges are safer than traditional ones because they reduce speeds and cut out the need for the traditional left turns onto the interstate most drivers are used to.

As defined by the transportation department, a diamond interchange “allows the two directions of traffic on the crossroad to temporarily divide and cross to the opposite side to gain access to and from the freeway more easily.”

Among the diverging diamonds built so far across Florida are ones in Manatee County in 2017, Brevard County in 2019, Miami-Dade County in 2018 and 2019, and Nassau County in 2020, according to the transportation department.

DDI benefits include reduced time sitting in intersection traffic, lower driver speeds and fewer “conflict points” for cars and pedestrians.

Cesar Martinez, FDOT’s district planning and environmental administrator, said conflict points happen “when a vehicle is making a left turn or a right turn and at some point, it has the potential to conflict with another vehicle in a different direction.”

“On a normal interchange, what we call a conventional diamond, when you’re making a left turn out of a ramp, there’s a potential if someone runs the red light, then you can collide with them,” he said.

The off-ramps force drivers to follow a curve, which Martinez said slows drivers down as they approach the ramp’s traffic light. The thinking is that if someone does decide to blow the light, either while already driving on Glades Road or coming in from the I-95 ramp, their speed will likely be reduced, meaning that any possible crashes will have reduced severity.

DDI’s have “somewhat of a traffic-calming effect,” Martinez said, adding: “If someone is driving at 60 mph, we’ll have a totally different experience than someone crashing at 25 mph.”

Now, Martinez noted that if someone decides to drive recklessly through a DDI, FDOT has installed extra safety measures to curb potential harm.

If someone somehow misses the many “wrong way” and “do not enter” signs and begins driving the opposite direction, FDOT’s wrong-way detection system will sense the vehicle, alert the driver they are going the wrong direction through flashing lights, and notify law enforcement, the Traffic Management Center and Florida Highway Patrol. The agencies will then try to find the driver and stop them before they crash into anything.

A “formal evaluation” has not yet been conducted to determine if crashes have been reduced at the Glades Road DDI, but a DDI in Jacksonville along I-95, which opened in 2020, has seen a reduction from 5.4 annual crashes to 1.4.

For a lot of people, “this was the first time they had ever even seen something like this,” said Andrea Pacini, an FDOT spokesperson. “There was a learning curve, but then just like anything else, people drove it and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is faster, and it does work better.'”

Future diverging diamonds

Over the next several years, at least four new diverging diamond interchanges are scheduled for Palm Beach County. DDI’s typically have three phases: planning, development and environmental, design, and construction, each of which takes a couple of years to complete with the whole process possibly taking up to a decade.

Here are the projects on tap in the county:

— DDI at Lantana Road is in the design phase, and construction is expected to begin in 2027.

— DDI at 10th Avenue North in Lake Worth Beach is in the design phase, and construction is expected to begin in 2030.

— DDI at Hypoluxo Road is in the design phase and is expected to begin construction in 2031.

— DDI at Linton Boulevard is in the planning phase and is expected to begin construction in 2031.

Drivers can still use these interchanges during construction, though FDOT has had to shut down intersections for entire weekends in the past, Pacini said.

Martinez said the Federal Highway Administration has been promoting these types of interchanges, which is why they have begun to take off in Florida in the last couple of years. Nearly 50 DDI’s are at some phase of the process across the state.

“The overall feedback has been positive, and people are realizing that it is safer, and it is faster,” Pacini said.

A group of about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators lined the sidewalk along the bridge between West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, marching with flags and chanting as the motorcade sped by just before noon on its way to  Mar-a-Lago. A group of about a dozen Trump and pro-Israel supporters gathered on the opposite side of the road.

Tensions increased for about 20-30 minutes after the motorcade moved through, with pro-Palestinian supporters and Trump and Israel supporters shouting at each other from their opposing sides of the street.

Yaron Shwartz who is originally from Jerusalem, arrived at the small parking lot at the foot of the bridge near Mar-a-Lago before the sun was up, leaving his home in Miami about 5 a.m. He hoisted a a cross-shaped pole with a T-shirt that read “Bring me home please,” an homage to the hostages held captive as a result of the war in Gaza.

Life after Oct. 7 when the war began will never be the same, Shwartz said.

“It’s a tragedy for both sides,” he said.

Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, who held a pro-Israel sign, said she was there to express support for former president Trump and “BiBi,” which is a nickname for Netanyahu.

Trump “is still trying to protect us,” she said. “So I come out to say ‘President Trump, we’re still with you.’”

She also said Netanyahu has people who stand with him “no matter what the naysayers say.”

After the motorcade, pro-Palestinian protesters chanted out accusations about Netanyahu being a “war criminal.”

“Netanyahu you can’t hide, you brought human genocide!” protestors chanted, led by a woman with a megaphone.

Further west, away from the Intracoastal bridge, the law enforcement presence seemed to outnumber the people who had gathered on Southern Boulevard between Parker and Lake avenues. A Broward County resident wearing a yarmulke, who wouldn’t identify himself, said he came because he supports Netanyahu and Israel, but not Trump.

A few segments of security vehicles passed through before the motorcade carrying Netanyahu arrived about 11:45 a.m., and the morning remained relatively uneventful. Traffic resumed by noon, but police returned to start barracading streets again shortly after 1 p.m.

Residents and workers in the area expressed frustration at the barriers and traffic shutdowns at lunchtime. A worker from a nearby business spent 15 or 20 minutes trying to cross Southern Boulevard on foot to pick up a sandwich he had ordered from a nearby Subway store. “I’m taking the loss,” the unidentified man finally said as he abandoned the effort. “It’s a power move to not want to see him (Netanyahu).”

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu lasted about two hours, and the departing motorcade went on its way about 2:10 p.m.

A day earlier, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw had vowed that his law enforcement agency was “on top of the ball game, and things will go very smooth” when the ex-president meets with the leader of Israel.

On Wednesday, thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington to condemn Netanyahu’s visit, chanting “Free, free Palestine” as they marched toward the Capitol before police deployed pepper spray on some in the crowd, The Associated Press reported.

“There’s a lot of apprehension out here right now about presidential visits and dignitaries, given what happened,” Bradshaw said during a news conference Thursday, referring to the assassination attempt of Trump on July 13. “Look, we’re well-trained at this. … We’ve never had a glitch.”

Bradshaw urged people not to “think for a minute” the Secret Service is nothing short of “excellent.”

“We know what each other is doing every second,” Bradshaw said, adding: “We’re on top of the ball game, and things will go very smooth.”

On Wednesday, thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington to condemn Netanyahu’s visit, chanting “Free, free Palestine” as they marched toward the Capitol before police deployed pepper spray on some in the crowd, The Associated Press reported.

In response to questions about protests such as the ones seen in Washington D.C., Bradshaw said the Sheriff’s Office has “good intelligence information” and knows what to expect: “If there’s a credible threat, we’ll know about it,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s going to be en masse like it was, but you never know,” he said. “But whatever the number is, we’re fully prepared to make sure that the roadway is going to stay open, people are going to be safe and we’re not going to have any disruption of property.”

Mike Jachles, a spokesperson for West Palm Beach Police, said the department has been in communication with other agencies and is prepared in case protests occur across the bridge. The “main goal is to keep them separated,” he said. “Once they come in contact, that’s when things get terse.”

Residents should be prepared for traffic anywhere from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, he said.

Bradshaw warned against stepping in the road, saying the former president’s motorcade will be moving through, and said the Sheriff’s Office will provide places for people to stand instead.

“In four years that the president (Biden) was here, he had outdoor events, indoor events, traveled all over the place,” Bradshaw said. “Never a problem. Never even close to being a problem. So we’re very confident that we’re well-trained and seamlessly in our operation who will be handling the security, the Sheriff’s Office, Secret Service.”