WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As cranes fill the skyline and major projects continue rising across downtown West Palm Beach, leaders and residents in Palm Beach say the explosive growth happening across the Intracoastal is no longer just a West Palm Beach issue.
During a recent Palm Beach Town Council meeting, officials reviewed more than 100 projects planned, approved, under construction, or completed in downtown West Palm Beach — including thousands of residential units, multiple hotels, and more than 2 million square feet of commercial development.
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Traffic quickly emerged as the biggest concern. “I’m horrified because of our traffic issue with this much going up,” one councilmember said during the meeting. “We just don’t have the road capacity.”
Palm Beach officials stressed they cannot stop or veto projects in West Palm Beach because each municipality operates under its own home rule authority. Instead, council members said their best option is to stay engaged, attend meetings, and advocate for balanced growth.
“We just can’t sit around anymore. We can’t say, ‘I’m from Palm Beach and you’re not,’ anymore,” one council member said. “We are now a part of a regional superstructure.”
Planning staff member Jennifer Hofmeister presented the council with updated GIS mapping data showing projects clustered largely along Flagler Drive and south of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard — areas officials said could have the greatest impact on traffic heading to and from the island.
Residents on both sides of the Intracoastal say the traffic problem is already difficult.
“We keep getting stuck everywhere,” West Palm Beach resident Eva Sherwin said. When asked to describe the city’s traffic situation in one word, resident Michael Jones responded: “Tragic.”
For Mark Maller, getting off Palm Beach Island can already feel like a commute before his drive even begins.
“When Trump is in town and A1A is closed, my office is just a block away from here,” Maller said. “It can take me 20 minutes, 25 minutes just to get to the bridge, where it should take three or four minutes.”
Maller said he fears the thousands of new residents expected from West Palm Beach’s building boom will make an already difficult situation much worse. “I can’t imagine when all those are built up, what the traffic is going to be like,” he said. “It’s bad enough now. It’s going to be a nightmare.”
He worries future commutes during road closures or busy season could stretch to nearly an hour for trips just a few blocks long. “Once all that construction’s done, that commute when Trump’s in town as well is just going to be tenfold,” Maller said.
Longtime resident Mike Tyler, who said he was born in 1941, also believes the pace of development has outgrown the region’s infrastructure. “The construction and real estate industry has gotten out of hand,” Tyler said.
Tyler said routine trips have become increasingly difficult, especially during season. “I have been here at 3:30 trying to get off the island,” he said. “Don’t try that during the busy season.”
Council members also voiced concern about proposals tied to West Palm Beach’s Downtown Master Plan, including past discussions about potentially closing portions of Flagler Drive for future waterfront development. “That is something we all need to keep an eye on,” one council member said, warning traffic could become “absolutely insane” if major roadway changes move forward.
The Downtown Master Plan is currently paused following pushback from West Palm Beach residents, some of whom have voiced concerns about overdevelopment and density. “We do not want Wall Street South,” resident Draana Conetan said during a meeting.
In response, West Palm Beach created a resident-led coalition involving roughly 30 neighborhood organizations meeting weekly with city staff.
“I think they’re finally starting to listen,” resident Patty Wilmoth said.
Regarding the coalition, the city says:
The City's Resident Partnership Initiative is underway as a collaborative effort that brings together representatives from participating neighborhood associations across West Palm Beach.
Representatives have already begun meeting weekly and are participating in structured working sessions with City staff. The initial series of sessions focuses on the Downtown Master Plan Update, providing neighborhood representatives with a deeper understanding of the City's planning process and the work of departments including Utilities, Engineering, Transportation, Public Works, and others. These sessions also provide opportunities to review technical information, ask questions, and provide feedback from their neighborhoods that helps inform the planning process.
The initiative is designed to strengthen two-way communication between the City and residents by ensuring neighborhood representatives have timely, factual information they can share with their communities while bringing neighborhood questions and feedback directly to City staff.
Palm Beach leaders say they plan to continue monitoring development discussions, join more regional transportation and planning committees, and encourage residents to stay informed about projects that could reshape traffic and quality of life across both communities. “It’s interconnected, so it’s going to create a much bigger problem here,” Maller said. “We don’t call it West Palm Beach now; it’s called Palm Beach West.”
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