Royal Palm considers traffic-calming plans

La Mancha Avenue eligible for measure; open meeting today.

A busy residential thoroughfare in Royal Palm Beach could receive some relief from speeding vehicles looking to avoid the busy intersection of Royal Palm Beach and Okeechobee boulevards.

La Mancha Avenue is eligible for traffic-calming measures, according to a survey completed for the village by consultant Simmons and White. The survey also reviewed traffic on Ponce de Leon Street but found it did not meet the village’s standards for traffic calming.

Royal Palm Beach will have a meeting at 6 p.m. today at the Village Meeting Hall, 1050A Royal Palm Beach Blvd., where residents can learn more about the plans for La Mancha, the village said in a news release.

La Mancha Avenue runs through Royal Palm Beach’s La Mancha neighborhood. Residents have expressed concerns in the past that the road is used as a cutthrough for drivers who want to bypass the intersection of Royal Palm Beach and Okeechobee boulevards.

Plans include placing 15 speed tables about every 15 feet along La Mancha Avenue, from Bilbao Street in the south to the north end of Las Palmas Street, about a mile-and-a-half stretch, the study said.

But the village will act on the plans only if 50 percent plus one household along the stretch of La Mancha in question vote in favor of the speed tables. Residents received ballots in the mail to vote on the proposed plan. Ballots should be returned to the village by May 10.

The next step would be evaluating the cost of the project. Royal Palm Beach staff then would bring it to the village council for approval.

Residents attending today’s meeting will see a 15-minute presentation from Simmons and White on the study and recommendations, village engineer Chris Marsh said. They also will hear about the types of traffic calming available and why Royal Palm Beach chose speed tables.

In the past, the village had considered roundabouts as a solution for slowing cars along La Mancha Avenue, but residents and the council opposed that plan. Roundabouts also cost more and take up more space, including right-of-way residents may view as part of their yards, Marsh said.

Speed tables have fewer impacts on residents and are less expensive, he said.

A similar project recently was completed on Sandpiper Avenue, where the village installed its first residential speed tables. Eleven speed tables and a raised crosswalk were installed. The $65,000 project was done by Pompano Beach-based Florida Blacktop Inc.