Jeff Speck joins downtown mobility study; city and community plan short-term demo projects for Palmetto Park Road

Jeff Speck, a national urban planner and author, was introduced at the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency meeting on April 7 as a consultant on a downtown mobility and Palmetto Park Road walkability study. City staff said the Alta Planning and Design contract (work order No. 3) and a recently expanded consultant team will move the project from analysis toward design and short-term demonstration projects.

The addition of Speck and an Alta–Spect (Speck's firm) collaboration follows more than a year of data collection, community outreach and concept development, city staff said. Zach Beer, the city’s Public Works and Engineering Director, told the CRA that the consultant team has compiled “thousands of comments” from online tools and in-person meetings and is preparing alternative designs that respond to safety, traffic, livability and the downtown campus master plan.

Why it matters: Palmetto Park Road runs through the CRA district and ties into the planned government center campus, the Brightline station area and other downtown projects. City staff and the consultants said they intend to coordinate study work with those projects so walkability and connectivity are designed in concert rather than in isolation.

Key near-term steps and timeline - Alta and the Spect team will begin focused work under an existing contract; council/CRA staff identified work order No. 3 as the immediate authorization for that scope. City staff said initial check-ins with the expanded team are expected in summer and that a short, multi-day design charrette is tentatively scheduled for June, held back until the formal work order was in place. - Staff and consultants said some short-term interventions ("quick-build" or demonstration projects) are under review now, with Meisner Boulevard intersections such as Second and Meisner and Southeast First among proposed locations. If approved, those demonstration installations could be implemented within weeks to a few months depending on materials and permitting. - Consultants and staff said coordination is underway with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) projects affecting downtown intersections; the city invited consultant input to improve safety at locations on FDOT’s schedule.

Community reaction and public comments Members of a longstanding volunteer group, Workshop 344 Plus, and several residents urged the CRA to use Speck’s design experience to produce an iconic, pedestrian-first place rather than incremental engineering changes.

Andrea Levine O'Rourke, representing Workshop 344 Plus, said the group had worked three years on Palmetto Park Road concepts and asked the CRA to "foster space where the community voice feels that they are heard." She added, "Fast traffic is not safe. It's unpleasant, and frankly, it's scary." Judy Morrow, a downtown resident, said she gathered petitions and told the board, "90% of the people want to save our Boca Raton Tennis Center," urging that park and recreation assets be preserved as planning proceeds.

Other commenters urged a broader, downtown- or citywide approach rather than studying a single block. Several speakers recommended that Speck take a leading design role and that the city use the charrette to involve longtime residents and technical volunteers.

Consultant perspective Jeff Speck told the CRA his firm will evaluate existing street-section options and other alternatives and present optimized design alternatives for decision-making. "To be walkable, the walk has to be useful, safe, comfortable and interesting," Speck said during his introduction to the board, summarizing his design priorities.

Staff cautions and next steps City staff emphasized that some demonstration ideas would be lower-complexity intersection treatments, while others (pop-ups or temporary configurations on Meisner) could require traffic control plans and more extensive temporary traffic management. Staff said they would present options for implementation after receiving Speck's on-site evaluations and completing the contracted tasks under Alta’s work order.

The CRA and consultant teams plan additional public engagement during the charrette and will return to the CRA with designs and schedule options. Staff said that if urgent changes are needed over the summer, special meetings can be called with reasonable notice.