‘DEPLORABLE’ DIRT ROADS VEX RESIDENTS IN LOX GROVES
Fatal automobile accident Tuesday fuels rage over maintenance.
LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — Residents vented Tuesday night about the conditions of the town’s dirt roads, just hours after a Palm Beach Gardens woman was critically injured when her car plunged into a canal on the east side of town.
Wanda Thompson Cangelosi, 52, of Palm Beach Gardens was driving east on North Road in her Chevy Impala when she failed to navigate the curve to go south on G Road East just before noon Tuesday, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office report. Cangelosi’s car overturned into the canal. She died Tuesday night at Palms West Hospital. Alcohol or drugs may have played a role in the crash, PBSO said.
Both North and G roads are dirt. A drive through the area Tuesday afternoon revealed a rough ride on both, with large dips on G Road East south of where the crash occurred, and pits and a washout on North Road to the west of the crash site.
The town’s dirt roads were called “deplorable” at a Tuesday night town hall before the regular council meeting, where residents shared concerns and ideas about how the cash-strapped town can improve the roads.
Many residents suggested the issues began when the town took over maintenance of about 16 miles of dirt roads from the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District in the fall.
“When the town took over the roads, they said how they were going to take care of everything,” resident Mark Jackson said. But “nobody thinks anything is being done,” he said.
Recent rains left massive, waterfilled pits on several high-traffic roads including North B Road and North E Road. The town was left with little money to make emergency road repairs after cleanup from Hurricane Irma left its coffers bare, officials have said.
No one in town likes the road conditions, Vice Mayor Todd McLendon said. He said the town has been responsible for its roads since incorporating in 2007 and paid the water control district to maintain those roads. He and other council members have voiced hope that residents will vote this month to merge the water control district into the town government, giving the town access to assessments residents still pay to the district to maintain roads.
Veterinarian Susan Clubb has had her Rainforest Clinic for Birds and Exotics on North E Road since before the town incorporated. “Every client who comes into my practice says, how do we deal with these roads,” she said. “I tell them, I’m not charging them an adventure fee.”
Clubb was one of several residents who asked about fast-tracking a plan to install drainage catchbasins throughout the town. Town
‘When the town took over the roads, they said how they were going to take care of everything. ... Nobody thinks anything is being done.’ Mark Jackson
Loxahatchee Groves resident
manager Bill Underwood said officials are working on the catchbasin design and obtaining easements from homeowners. Nearly 300 sites were identified as needing catchbasins, with 10 — including seven on North B Road — prioritized to get the work started. The town has the money to install about 80 catchbasins, he said.
But residents see an immediate need to repair the roads. “My trailers cannot get down the road,” said Gena Bark, who lives on North E.
The council discussed several ways to improve the roads, including giving initial approval to a referendum that will allow the town to repay borrowed money over 11 years instead of three. A final council vote will be June 14. If approved, it will go to voters Aug. 28.
Staff writers R.E. Denty and McKenna Ross contributed to this report.