Judge rules in favor of State Road 7 expansion from Okeechobee Blvd. to 60th St.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The saga that is the State Road 7 extension has added a new chapter following a judge's ruling.

Back in December, WPTV held our Let’s Hear it event in Palm Beach Gardens, with concerns about the project to extend State Road 7 from Northlake Boulevard to Okeechobee Boulevard.

Many explained to us that it would provide a much-needed escape from the traffic of Northlake in the wake of countless developments bogging down the roads.

The conversation of expansion has been going on for decades. Ron Rickles has lived in the area for 20 years and currently lives in the Ibis community just off Northlake Boulevard. He said many in his community aren’t fans of the idea to extend the road.

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“Many people don't want to do it,” said Rickles. “Others do. It has pluses and minuses. I like it because it'll give you another access out of out of here, especially when there's accidents or something in Northlake. There are a lot of different arguments. People don't like it because of the impact on the environment. People don't like it because it might create more noise into the community. You know, these are all good reasons.”

Officials with the city of West Palm Beach have argued for years against the extension, citing potential environmental impacts, as the project would need to cut through the 23-square-mile Grassy Waters Preserve, which holds pre-treated drinking water.

Commissioner Sara Baxter represents the area seriously affected by the traffic, and says the claims of environmental impacts are false.

“Northlake already goes through Grassy Waters, and the road is already halfway built,” said Baxter. “So the idea that completing this road would impact the water at all is actually false.”

After seven weeks of litigation between the Florida Department of Transportation and the city of West Palm Beach, a 134-page orderfrom Judge Francine M. Folks, sided in favor of FDOT, approving a permit to allow the four-lane extension of State Road 7.

“I think it will be a good idea. It will benefit a lot of people, especially the people that you know they're trying to get home,” said Manny Mendez. “They got places to go. So if it would help out, I feel like they should give it a shot.”

“It would stop a lot of the congestion,” added Terri Daugherty.

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Baxter said she’s hopeful that the project will go forward, but hopes the city doesn’t appeal the ruling, dragging the project into another legal battle.

“I'm hesitantly optimistic because, you know, this has been going on for over two decades now,” said Baxter. "State Road 7 absolutely needs to connect to Northlake. This shouldn't be taking this long. People are stuck. They feel trapped out in the acreage in Loxahatchee. And I cannot express enough how much this road really needs to go through to help my residents and to help reduce traffic congestion in western communities."

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Future of State Road 7 extension still up for consideration

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“I would like to really urge the West Palm Beach City Council to spend the taxpayer dollars on better things,” said Baxter. “Let's talk about homeless. Let's talk about affordable workforce housing. Let's talk about anywhere else those taxpayer dollars could go than an appeal to something that they lost. If they keep appealing, it's just taxpayer dollars down the drain. I mean millions and millions of dollars that their residents have had to pay to stop a road that is severely needed.”

Baxter said the city has 15 days from the ruling made on May 1 to appeal the findings.