If driving through I-95 and Boynton Beach Boulevard already feels like a construction obstacle course, brace yourself: the $64 million interchange project is now creating some of its biggest traffic headaches. The Florida Department of Transportation is widening the Boynton Beach Boulevard bridge over I-95, adding turn lanes to the highway ramps and creating a third westbound through lane to improve traffic flow. But getting there will take time. The work is happening alongside the Gateway Project, which we covered last month.
Portions of I-95 can lose up to three lanes overnight, entrance and exit ramps may close between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and eastbound Boynton Beach Boulevard has been reduced from three lanes to two between NW 8th Street and east of Industrial Avenue. That traffic pattern is expected to remain through late 2026. For Boynton residents, the short-term reality means slower trips and occasional detours, especially at night. The payoff should be a safer, higher-capacity interchange, but the entire project is not expected to be finished until early 2029.
Florida Will Soon Have a New Governor - And the Road Starts Here
Tomorrow is Election Day, and Boynton voters will help shape a political landscape that is already beginning to change. Polls are open Tuesday, August 18, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and early voting has ended, so anyone who has not voted yet must go to their assigned Election Day polling place. This election also comes as Florida heads toward a major transition: Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot run for a third consecutive term after winning back-to-back elections in 2018 and 2022, making the race to succeed him one of the biggest stories on the horizon.
Florida is a closed-primary state, so your registered party generally determines which partisan races appear on your ballot. Boynton residents should check their polling location before leaving home and bring an acceptable photo and signature ID. Vote-by-mail ballots must reach the Supervisor of Elections Main Office by 7 p.m. today (August 18). Simply mailing it tomorrow is not enough.
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🎉This Week’s Featured Events
Rock the Plaza — Saturday, August 22, from 2:00–6:00 p.m. at Ocean Palm Plaza, 1550 N. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. The Boynton Beach CRA is bringing live music and entertainment to the plaza, with local band Girlfriend Material performing throughout the afternoon. The event is designed to encourage residents to explore the shops and restaurants at Ocean Palm Plaza while enjoying music and activities in a relaxed outdoor setting. Admission is FREE. For more information click here.
Never Stop Believin’ — The Ultimate Tribute to Journey — Friday, August 21, from 8:00–10:00 p.m. at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Avenue in downtown Delray Beach. Fans of Journey can hear many of the band’s biggest hits performed live by Never Stop Believin’, a tribute act recreating the sound and energy of the group’s classic years. Expect favorites like “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Faithfully” and “Any Way You Want It” in an intimate live-music setting. Tickets range from $53–$58 including fees. For more information and tickets click here.
2026 West Palm Beach Beer Fest — Saturday, August 22, from 6:00–10:00 p.m. at Bryant Park, located at Lake Avenue and Golfview Road along the Intracoastal in Lake Worth Beach. The fifth annual festival brings together craft beers and spirits from local and national producers, with unlimited tastings included with admission. General admission begins at 6:00 p.m., while VIP ticket holders can enter at 4:00 p.m. Tickets start at approximately $53. For more information and tickets click here.
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Boynton Police Training Center Draws Backlash
A proposed police training center near Golfview Harbour has been put on hold after neighbors raised concerns about noise, trees and property values. Boynton Beach planned the facility on roughly 7.75 acres near the subdivision, including a 12-lane, 50-yard shooting range, defensive-tactics space and realistic training areas. City staff said the center would help meet growing police training needs. After residents organized against the location, District 1 Commissioner Angela Cruz announced the project would be paused. About $60,000 of a roughly $434,000 architectural planning contract had reportedly already been spent. Residents say the issue is not police training itself, but whether regular firearms training belongs beside an established neighborhood.
🤔 Did You Know?
Boynton changed dramatically in the 1920s, gaining electricity, a water treatment plant and some of the landmarks that still define the city today. The original Boynton Beach Hotel was demolished during this era, while famed architect Addison Mizner designed the Boynton Woman’s Club in 1925. More than a century later, the building still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The city is breaking the law with the police shooting range or any "building" on land dedicated for park purposes. These lands are not surplus land, they are dedicated to the city as dedicated requirements under law.
The property in question, along with many other "future park sites" were explicitly protected and cataloged as park property when the city acquired it. The city's internal asset and property logs confirm that the land was restricted from the moment of transfer.
When the surrounding residential plots (such as Golfview Harbour) were mapped out, the original developers transferred the underlying title of the 7.75-acre parcel directly to the City of Boynton Beach as part of the Developer Dedication requirement. The deed and recorded subdivision plat explicitly designated this parcel under a "Park" use restriction. (In the Recreation and Parks Department Facility Guide and previous documents it is called "FPL Future Park Site". The wooded area was preserved with the expectation that it would eventually be developed into a passive neighborhood park or green space.) This legal step ensured the land was held in a public trust to benefit the community, meaning the city did not purchase it as general corporate property to use or sell freely.
The city did not zone the property for commercial or municipal utility operations. Instead, it was formally added to the Boynton Beach Property Asset Log under its strict "Park" classification. The city intentionally left the land in its raw, heavily wooded state, creating a natural acoustic buffer zone to protect the adjacent homes from the noise of I95 and the nearby train tracks. Upon acquisition it was "land banked".
Why this is a Core Legal Issue???
Because the property has carried this "Park" protection since day one, city staff could not quietly hand it over to the police department for development. Attempting to build an active tactical facility on land explicitly acquired and designated for a public park is why this is not legal.
A property designated for a future park cannot legally be used for another purpose—like a police shooting range—without undergoing a highly regulated, multi-step municipal conversion process. The fact that it had this designation is exactly why the Boynton Beach Police Department could not just clear the land and begin construction. To change the use of the property, the city must navigate several legal mechanisms:
1. Comprehensive Plan Amendments-- Every city in Florida is bound by a legally mandated Comprehensive Plan, which acts as a 20-year blueprint mapping out exact land use (e.g., Residential, Industrial, Recreation/Park). Because this parcel is 10 acres or fewer (7.75 acres), the city would have to file a Small-Scale Future Land Use Amendment to legally convert the classification from "Recreational/Park" to a municipal or public institutional use designation.
2. Mandatory Public Hearings-- The city cannot change its land use map behind closed doors. Florida law (Chapter 163, Florida Statutes) requires the city to advertise and hold quasi-judicial public hearings before the local planning board and the City Commission.
3. De-Authorization and Rezoning-- Even if a Future Land Use map is amended, a separate Rezoning Ordinance must pass. The city would have to officially change the site's zoning district rules to permit high-impact municipal facilities, proving that the change would not negatively affect the safety, noise levels, and environmental health of neighboring residential zones.
4. Legal Protections and Dedications-- The property has already been formally dedicated to the public as parkland through a recorded plat or property deed. Under Florida common law, property explicitly dedicated to public use cannot be easily stripped away or reallocated for non-park uses without the public's consent or a grueling legislative abandonment process.
*The city must halt the project entirely.*
In addition, the city manager is retired from the police department and seems to invest a great deal of his interest only in police related activities. The city is much more than the police department and us citizens deserve to have the benefit of the city as a whole addressed, not special interest.
*Upon acquisition, the city did not zone the property for commercial or municipal utility operations. Instead, it was formally added to the
Boynton Beach Property Asset Log under its strict "Park" classification.
Here is the link-- Boynton Beach Property Asset Log
https://www.boynton-beach.org/DocumentCenter/View/522/Vacant-Lots-in-Boynton-Beach?bidId=