PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Residents along Brooklyn Lane in Lake Worth say their only road in and out of the neighborhood is deteriorating, raising concerns about whether emergency vehicles will be able to reach their homes.
“You know it’s one way in, one way out, so we’re in trouble,” resident Gerald Hruby said.
WATCH Lake Worth neighbors fear deteriorating private road could cut off emergency access
For neighbor Doug Rua, a former EMT and police officer, the biggest concern is public safety.
“I’m concerned about fire trucks being able to maneuver around it or over it, along with ambulances,” Rua said. “So it’s really, it’s really a public safety issue.”
Residents say the problem involves a pipe underneath the road.
“The road is corroding away because of a hole in the pipe under the road,” resident Richard Scott said. “The county won’t fix it, and we’ve had this problem since, uh, 2019.”
Residents said the worsening conditions have also affected trash collection. They said garbage pickup stopped when the road became too damaged for trucks to safely navigate.
WPTV has been following the neighbors’ concerns. During a recent return to Brooklyn Lane, WPTV Traffic Reporter Johann Hoffend saw county workers assessing the damage and performing temporary work that allowed trash pickup to resume.
“We reached out to WPTV earlier this month and actually last month, and they’ve really been a help to us,” Rua said.
But those temporary repairs are already showing signs of deterioration following recent heavy rain.
The county has said it cannot repair the road because Brooklyn Lane is private.
That leaves residents questioning what a permanent solution might look like and who ultimately bears responsibility for fixing the deteriorating roadway.
WPTV reached out to the county about whether there are options to address the damage along Brooklyn Lane. The county said it is looking into the issue.
