New regulations for the Town of Palm Beach start Friday. The town says the changes will help ease traffic troubles during visits from President Trump.
Every Friday from Feb. 10 to May 1, landscapers, contractors and pool cleaners will be required to stop working and leave the island at 3 p.m.
This requirement will be in place even if the president is out of town. Town leaders say the intent is to develop a consistent and predictable traffic routine.
Anyone not following the rules will be ticketed or towed.
The town says it is doing its part too by encouraging employees to carpool and allowing them to flex their schedules.
In addition, the Planning, Zoning and Building Department will not process applications or allow pickup of any permits after 3 p.m. every Friday throughout the duration of the traffic mitigation period.
Town staff, as well as county staff, will actively monitor key intersections on and off the island and will manually control traffic lights to ensure proper flow of traffic.
During the peak traffic periods, preference will be given to east-west traffic. The town says this will allow traffic control personnel to pursue a nearly continuous flow of traffic on the town’s major east-west arteries.
Drivers are advised to use Royal Poinciana Way, Royal Palm Way and Southern Boulevard.
Those with questions are urged to attend a meeting on Feb. 9 at 4:30 p.m. You can also sign up for important alerts from the Town of Palm Beach.
Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday morning tweeted about the costs that Palm Beach County faces with Trump's visits.
Happy #Florida & #WPB home to #WinterWhiteHouse But need to deal burden with burden it's imposing on local govt https://t.co/20WLK72Xlv
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 9, 2017