Bicyclist on morning ride killed at Federal and Palmetto Park Road

By Mary Hladky

Two days after Mayor Scott Singer proclaimed March as “bicycle month” in the city, a crash claimed a bicyclist’s life and highlighted residents’ concerns about pedestrian and bicyclist safety on East Palmetto Park Road.

Bicyclist Mark Rudow, 66, of Boca Raton, was killed around 8 a.m. March 3 when a northbound 2015 Dodge pickup truck, turning from North Federal Highway onto East Palmetto Park Road, struck him as he was crossing the intersection while riding northbound in the bicycle lane.

The driver, who was not identified by the Boca Raton Police Services Department,

Highland Beach was issued a citation for making an unlawful right turn.

Speaking about Rudow’s death, avid cyclist Jim Wood, a contributor to the BocaFirst blog, said, “When something like that happens, it raises awareness of the risks of cycling. It’s a concern.”

Beachside residents have long sought a revamp of the stretch of Palmetto Park Road from the Intracoastal Waterway to State Road A1A to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety as well as the road’s appearance.

On March 28, the City Council approved hiring Alta Planning + Design consultants to draw up plans for making improvements along the span from Federal

Stern back on commission as vice mayor for a year

Stand-in Commissioner David Stern has returned to the dais for a year in an elevated role in Highland Beach.

Late last month, commissioners unanimously appointed him vice mayor less than a week after he finished a temporary stint filling three months of the unexpired term of Peggy Gossett-Seidman, now a state representative.

Stern’s latest appointment comes after Vice Mayor Natasha Moore became mayor following

Mayor Doug Hillman’s death earlier in March.

In choosing Stern to fill the one year remaining in the vice mayor’s term, commissioners cited his extensive experience on town boards and his three months on the commission.

Stern has served on the Financial Advisory Board, the Charter Review Board and on a committee auditing the town’s water plant. He also chaired the Code Enforcement Board and the Board of Adjustment and Appeals.

A 25-year-plus resident of Highland Beach, Stern is also president of Highland Place Condominium.

— Rich Pollack

Highway to the Intracoastal.

That project was spearheaded by former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and land use attorney Ele Zachariades.

“We are very concerned” about the fatal crash, said Katie Barr MacDougall, president of the Riviera Civic Association, shortly after meeting with County Commissioner Marci Woodward about the changes she feels are needed on the eastern portion of the roadway.

From 2020 through 2022, crashes involving three pedestrians and three bicyclists, one of whom was seriously injured, took place along Palmetto Park Road from Federal Highway to A1A, according to the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency.

Lifelong cyclist Les Wilson, also a BocaFirst contributor, thinks he knows how the fatal crash occurred. The truck driver probably was looking left to see any oncoming traffic and may not have been aware of the cyclist moving on his right side. The cyclist wouldn’t have known the driver intended to turn right unless he used the turn signal, he said.

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Oct. 25 to designate Boca as a “Vision Zero city” as part of a national program to reach a goal of no severe traffic injuries or deaths. They also directed staff to create a plan to achieve that goal.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the city a $300,000 grant on Feb. 1 to pay for that plan.

“Vision Zero, that is a game changer in the city,” Wilson said.

In an effort to help the city reach the goal, BocaFirst launched a Vision Zero Project page on its blog.

It includes a detailed map of city bike lanes that Wilson compiled after riding 300 miles of them and a link that allows residents to report bicycle infrastructure problems.

Wilson sees Vision Zero as an answer to making the streets safer for bicyclists.

Dredging offshore will continue through April

By Steve Plunkett

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is back offshore pumping sand from the ebb shoal just south of the Boca Raton Inlet to beaches south of the inlet.

The roughly 1 mile of beaches between the inlet and the city limit with Deerfield Beach will remain open to the public except for about 500 feet around each day’s active area.

The $6.5 million project started in March and is scheduled to be completed by May 1.

The city’s permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection does not allow sand to be deposited on the beaches from May to November to protect nesting sea turtles.

While signs on State Road A1A say turtle season is March 1 to Oct. 31, intense nesting does not begin that soon.

The turtle conservation program at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, which monitors the city’s 5 miles of beaches every morning during the season, as of March 27 reported only two leatherback nests and no loggerhead or green turtle nests.

Boca Raton routinely nourishes its south beach every seven years, rotating the work with projects on its central and north beaches. Hurricanes and other storms can lead to emergency sand projects.

The cost of the current work will be partly offset by grants from Palm Beach County and the state DEP.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District uses its tax revenue to pay for 50% of beach nourishment projects.

Through separate contracts, Great Lakes will also pump sand onto Deerfield Beach and its southern neighbor, Hillsboro Beach. Those municipalities are paying for their own work, supplemented by state and federal money.

Besides widening beaches for visitors, moving sand south helps keep the Boca Raton Inlet navigable to boaters.

“So excited to hear they are dredging the Boca inlet! Needed badly, it has been a little bumpy on the north side going out!!” Boca Raton boater Cindy Galiardo posted on Facebook. Ú