Palm Beach County approves design contract for 5-mile Prosperity Farms Road segment after North Palm Beach seeks earlier municipal input

Palm Beach County commissioners voted unanimously to authorize a consultant contract to design a five‑mile segment of Prosperity Farms Road, funding drainage, pedestrian, signal and bike‑lane improvements but not expanding the travel lanes. The 7–0 vote approves a $1,831,869.34 design contract and begins the formal process to produce design drawings county staff can share with municipal partners.

The authorization was described as a design‑phase step—not construction—by Joanne Keller, deputy county engineer, who told commissioners: “This is authorization to do work to design a 5 mile segment of road prosperity for drainage improvements, some signalization, bike lanes, pedestrian improvements. It's not a road expansion.” County staff said the phase is intended to produce tangible design concepts the county can show the cities it will affect.

Opposition to proceeding immediately came from Village of North Palm Beach councilmember Orlando Puyol, who asked commissioners to pause the item so municipal staff could meet with county project managers before the design contract was signed. “I rise to respectfully request that item 3 c 1 on the consent agenda concerning the Village in North Palm Beach be temporarily removed or tabled,” Puyol told the board, saying the village was “caught off guard” because the road borders schools, synagogues and parks and already includes sidewalks and bike lanes that the village does not want reworked without input.

Commissioners and staff said the contract is intended to enable exactly that outreach by giving a consultant resources to prepare specific plans to present to the municipalities. Commissioner Maria Sachs urged local staff and county engineers to set a date and meet right away: “If you just talk to each…