Village officials briefed the Council on July 17 about preparations for a planned Northlake Boulevard closure that will begin in early August and is likely to increase traffic through Royal Palm Beach for several days.

Acting Village Manager (speaking at the meeting) said the village will publish detour and closure information on electronic signs and the village’s Vector communications channel and encouraged residents to work from home during the disruption. “If you can work from home, the message is out there to work from home,” the acting village manager said.

Palm Beach County and law-enforcement partners will stage a joint command center and deploy personnel to manage traffic during the closure. The acting manager said the village met with Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office leadership, which will establish a joint command center at PBSO District 15 and deploy drones, 40 community service aides who can manually control signals, and 30 motorcycle units to help traffic flow and de-escalate incidents. The village will also install manual-control capabilities for signals that are not remotely controlled by the county.

Why it matters: officials said the closure will be short but intense — roughly 8 or 9 days — and will push traffic onto Royal Palm Beach and neighboring corridors. Council members urged the public to remain patient and follow law-enforcement directions.

County transportation planning: the acting village manager also urged council members to attend the kickoff of the Countywide Master Transportation Plan, awarded by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners and scheduled for 9 a.m. the next morning at the County Government Center on Jog Road. “I'm sure it'll be on YouTube and I would strongly recommend that we all get well informed on that,” the acting village manager said.

Local preparations cited at the meeting included:
- Electronic sign and Vector notices to alert commuters; staff said outreach has been substantial.
- A joint command center at PBSO District 15 with Palm Beach County traffic, EOC and fire partners.
- Deployment of drones, 40 community service aides (able to manually control signals), 30 motorcycle units and manual signal-control equipment at selected village intersections.

Council members and staff said extra law-enforcement presence is intended to reduce incidents and help traffic clear quickly; PBSO personnel said motorcycle units are “not intended to ticket, but certainly to hopefully prevent road rage episodes.”

Officials asked residents to plan around the closure, consider telework or alternate routes, and follow directions from deployed officers and traffic staff.